The Adventures of Ezreal the Prodigal Explorer (and Lydia)
by Draron
Summary: Ezreal has experienced all sorts of strange things through his explorations, but none as weird when a strange girl claiming to come from another world appears. Follow along the many (mis)adventures they go through as they try to find a way to send her back.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

The Kri'lla scuttled about on the wall, it mandibles snapping in excitement, its twelve beady eyes scanning the room. _Someone is coming_, it thought. _ A human_. The kri'lla could not recall the last time a human had last stepped in these passageways. It had to feast on small animals and insects, so feasting on human flesh was a welcome change of pace.

_Where are they? Where is the human?_ It chittered, trying to locate the human. It managed to pinpoint a human, a good thirty feet away. It seemed rather young and lean, it thought with disappointment. The kri'lla preferred supple bodies, it made it far easier to dissolve the organs, but well, one can't be too picky.

So absorbed the kri'lla was in anticipating its next meal, it failed to noticed a ray of magic that landed squarely in its abdomen. It shrieked pitifully as it fell to the ground, its six legs curling up as it lay there dying.

"Well that was easy," the boy remarked, dusting off his gauntlet, which hummed quietly. "Must have been distracted by my gorgeous face." He shot at the kri'lla one more time for good measure before pulling out a map.

"Still, though, there aren't that many traps here," the boy murmured "Maybe there isn't anything here?" He was ecstatic when he had (literally) stumbled upon a secret passageway while exploring a catacomb for relics, but so far, nothing had really piqued his interests. There were very few murals, little to no traps, and even the creatures themselves were disappointing. The boy's hopes of a rare relic was rapidly diminishing.

"Well, I've come this far," the boy said to himself. He picked up his lantern and continued down the passageway.

The passage was, as the boy feared, rather uneventful. A few more kri'lla, some man-eating rats, very much the norm expected. He was beginning to have second thoughts about continuing on, but finally found a door. Grinning slightly, he pulled out a sweeping lens from his pack. The lens hummed lightly as it scanned for traps, bathing the door with a red light. Once it revealed there were no traps, the boy cautiously pushed the door open.

He groaned. It looked as if there were any artifacts here before, they were now gone. Instead, an empty pedestal stood in the center of the room. A little further ahead, an raised archway loomed in the room. Curiously enough, there was nothing behind it as far as the boy could tell.

The boy scanned the room, wondering if there were any other passages, but beside the door he just entered, there was nothing else.

He scratched his head. Finding nothing in ancient passages and ruins was not uncommon, what with all the grave robbers. Nine times out of ten he would leave a ruin empty-handed. But his intuition was telling him there was more to this room.

He walked up to the empty pedestal and saw, on closer examination, five etched grooves, faded symbols surrounding them.

"Hm" the boy said thoughtfully, staring at the pedestal, then redirected his attention to the archway. He walked around the archway, studying the ancient symbols. He did not recognize them at all, so it must have been an ancient civilization lost in history. He waved his hand behind the arch to make sure there was no invisible pathway, but unsurprisingly found nothing. He was able to sense vestiges of magic, though he could not completely analyze the formula.

"Could it be teleportation magic?" he wondered. It seemed impossible, since all the scholars claim it to be impossible for at least another hundred years, and he never heard of anyone capable of teleporting, but he did hear of legends of how the ancient civilizations far surpassed that in magic capabilities. In fact, the gauntlet on his left arm was a testament to that, allowing him to blink short distances, and that was only one gauntlet. Imagine two gauntlets, or an archway? Perhaps this was their way of hiding their treasure room?

Unfortunately, he was not sure if he could open it. He was almost certain now that the pedestal did not hold artifacts, but keys to open the archway. He did not have the keys, but…

He stared at his gauntlet once more. The magic should be similar to what the gauntlet was using, and he more or less knew how to use it. And since the magic was similar, maybe he could use it to jumpstart the magic?

He studied the archway, searching for a chink in the magical formula. Though he did not brag about it a lot (ok, maybe he did), he was considered to be quite a prodigy. As his forty-third tutor had told him before quitting "If you could actually focus for ten minutes, you could have revolutionized magic as we know it!" So while he had no idea how this magic formula worked, he still could sense the general gist and feel of it.

He scanned the archway once more, nodded to himself, then aimed the gauntlet slightly above the lower right corner of the archway. Concentrating, the gauntlet lighting up and making a humming noise, he blinked foward, careful to land exactly at the spot he was aiming at. He glanced up.

It did not work. More accuately, the archway's rune did light up and there was a definite hum, but the spell itself was not activating.

"Not enough energy, huh," the boy said, disappointed. He had a suspicion that could be the case, but he was hoping that maybe the archway had enough leftover energy to start it. He scratched his head. He could theoretically keep placing energy, but he had no idea how long that could take, especially if the place he was tansported to was across the world. Maybe he should come back with a magical generator?

So absorbed he was in his thoughts he noticed too late that the walls had shifted and turned over to reveal several hulking golems, standing over ten feet tall, while the doorway was covered by a rock slab, sealing him off. He leapt back reflexively, his gauntlet aimed at one of them before realizing they weren't moving. On closer examination, he saw that their energy was mostly depleted likely due to the fact that they were worn away and cracked. He sighed in relief. This must have been the guardians for this room.

"Hm?" he said, noticing one of the golems still had energy in its core. "Is it it too badly damaged to fight?" he wondered, tapping the golem. Maybe he could use the core to power the archway…

A second later, a rock arm sent the boy flying across the room. The golem, a soft blue light emitting from it, wobbled out of its capsule and fixed its sight on the boy.

The boy was coughing and dusting himself off. "Stupid faulty security," he grumbled, glaring balefully at the golem. Then he grinned. "Well, what's an adventure without an epic fight, right?" And with that, he aimed his gauntlet and fired a shot, running towards the golem.

The ray bounced off the golem, and it swung its arms forward, trying to crush the boy. The boy, however, blinked behind the golem and fired another shot. The golem quickly dragged its arms across the ground to catch the boy, while the boy deftly rolled out of the way, but not before firing another shot.

The golem was strong but slow. While the boy could easily dodge and land shots, most of the shots got deflected, with no signs of the golem slowing down. Furthermore, fighting underground was severely limiting his firepower. While the golem could probably survive a cave-in, he very well could not.

He did notice that whenever his shots made it through the cracks of golems exterior, sparks would fly. He was probably attacking the core. He could destroy the core and stop it moving, though there was the risk of it exploding, but at this point, he did not have much of a choice.

So the boy used himself as bait, luring the golem before placing a few well-placed shots before blinking away, repeating the process again and again. After a while, the golem was noticeably slower, sparks emitting occasionally. But the boy was also slowing down. The cooldown to blink was becoming longer, and he could feel his magical reserves depleting. He was not sure how much longer he could keep this up.

"Come on, just ie already!" he grumbled, aiming another shot at the golem.

The golem stiffened up, then slowly landed with a thud, the light dimming from it.

"I did it?" the boy said, confused. Realizing the golem was not getting up, he let out a cheer. "I di it! This is definitely going in the log book!"

Suddenly, the golem's light tuned red, ending the boy's celebration. If his gut feeling was right (as it usually was), the golem was going to explode. He rushed to the door, only to find it was still barred. He fired several shots, all in vain. Any moment the golem would explode. The boy scrabbled away to the other side of the room, hoping to at least not be caught in the middle of the explosion.

The golem's light was blinking rapidly now, about to burst any second now. The boy squeezed his eyes shut and covered his ears, bracing himself for the inevitable. He waited. He heard a boom.

But felt nothing. Surprised, he cracked his eyes open, and was surprised to see that the explosion was being absorbed by the golem, the light seeping through the cracks of the golem, leaving the golem an empty husk. The archway's runes glowed brightly, and was now humming almost deafeningly. The boy watched as crackles of electricity emitted from the archway. Though he could not see clearly, he could see that through the archway glimpses of something. Fields, deserts, then strange looking buildings and curious flying objects. Before he could make sense of it, there was a loud crack and a flash of light, blinding him. Then, nothing.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust his eyes to the darkness. The archway was back to how it was before, and he could sense that the archway was completely drained. He frowned, then squinted his eyes.

There was a person, lying face down. He cautiously approached them, nudging them lightly with his foot, but no response. He turned the person over and examined them.

It was a girl. It was odd though, since despite the fact the she appeared to be alive, he could not sense any magical aura from her, which should have been impossible. Everyone, no matter how inept at magic, had a magical aura. Furthermore, he did not recognize the region of clothes she was wearing, with her odd blue pants, a loose red shirt and what appeared to be a jacket with peculiar writing on it. Perhaps she came from an isolated, unique tribe?

The boy hurriedly fixed his hair before shaking the girl.

The girl stirred, opening her eyes blearily. She blinked.

"Uh, hello," the boy said. "How are you feeling? Is you head all right?"

The girl frantically looked aound, shock evident on her face. "Where—" she coughed. "Where am I? Who are you? What's going on?"

"Whew, I you can speak. That's a good start," the boy said. "That's right, I haven't introduced myself, have i?"

He stood up, whipping his hair as smiled, puffing out his chest. "I am Ezreal, the Prodigal Explorer!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

"Who?" the girl said.

"Oh come on!" Ezreal said. "The Ezreal? Seeker of relics? The prodigy of mages? Relic protectors hate him?"

Ezreal was rewarded with a blank stare. "Oh yeah," he sighed. "I completely forgot, but you're from an isolated tribe, aren't you? You aren't Shuriman, right?"

The girl frowned. "No, I'm American," she said.

"Huh. American. Never heard of that one before." Ezreal said as he jotted it down. "Would you mind spelling that for me?"

"No wait, there is no way you haven't heard of America," the girl said. "We're one of the biggest powers out there."

Ezreal snorted. "In your tribe area, maybe. But I have never heard of you guys at all in Runeterra."

"Rune what?" the girl said.

"You seriously have not heard of Runeterra?" Ezreal said, surprised. "It's only the continent of the world we live in."

"That doesn't make sense. There's supposed to be seven continents in the world, and Runeterra is definitely not one of them." The girl said.

"Archaic belief that the seven islands the tribes live in are continents?" Ezreal scribbled in his journal.

"It is NOT archaic!" the girl said exasperated. "What I don't get is –"

"Shh!" Ezreal said.

"Don't you shush me when I'm trying to explain something to you!"

"Just shut up for a moment and listen, I think something's wrong!" Ezreal snapped. The girl reluctantly stayed quiet and they both listened.

"You hear that?" Ezreal asked.

"It sounds like…rumbling?" the girl said.

Ezreal groaned. "We gotta go!" he said, grabbing her hand. The door that was blocked was now open, and the two of them rushed through.

"Wait, what's happening?" the girl asked.

"Well, uh—" Ezreal began, petering off as he realized he did not know her name.

"Lydia" the girl quipped helpfully.

"Well, Lydia," Ezreal continued. "I kinda got into a huge fight a bit before you arrived, and I think it may have made the underground passage we're in a little…unstable."

Lydia took a moment to process this. "Are you saying you caused a cave-in while underground!?"

"Hey, I didn't have much of a choice, ok?" Ezreal said defensively.

Lydia rolled her eyes. "Some prodigal explorer you are." She muttered. Ezreal grimaced.

"Anyways, we gotta get out, like, now. So keep running, ok?"

"Sure, Mr. Prodigal Explorer."

"You don't have to keep rubbing it into my face!"

They continued running down the narrow passageway, rocks pelting them from the ceiling and the ground shaking ever so often. The creatures, for once, ignored the duo as they scrambled to safety. Lydia's eyes widened when she saw a Kri'lla scuttle past, but had no time to process this unusual (for her) creature.

Several times Ezreal had to drag Lydia and blink them out of safety, as she often fell behind.

"Why are you so out of shape?" he panted, as he blinked the two of them away from a pitfall.

"Shockingly enough, I do not regularly run away from cave-ins," she snapped, stumbling a little as she tried to reorient herself after the blink.

"Fair enough." He admitted. "We should be able to get out soon though. Look, there's the entrance!"

Sure enough, they could see a glimmer of light in the distance.

"As long as nothing happens, it should be easy for us!" he called out to Lydia. At that moment, a rock hit Lydia in the back and sent her sprawling. Ezreal looked up to see that countless numbers of rocks of all shapes and sizes were falling down. If they did not hurry, they would be trapped here.

"Oh, for the love of Janna, are you serious?" he muttered exasperatedly, as he rushed toward Lydia, pulling her up by the shoulder. "Can you walk?" Lydia, who was winded from the blow, nodded, but it was clear that she had not fully recovered. Ezreal supported her as he half-ran, half-dragged Lydia along.

They were about thirty feet when Ezreal saw several boulders falling from above. If they did not hurry, they would block the entrance and trap them here. He concentrated and tried to blink them, but only managed to blink about six feet. He clicked his tongue. The effectiveness of the blinking was not as strong because of his rapid use of the teleportation skill. Adding to that, he was now teleporting two people instead of just himself.

"Come on come on," he muttered, willing the gauntlet to blink them again, its light dimming, as he continued dragging Lydia along. He manage to blink about another six feet, continuing to move along as he did so.

They were now about ten feet away. If he could not blink them out the ruin, they would most likely get crushed by the cave-in. Ezreal gritted his teeth, and using all his willpower, forced the gauntlet to blink them, amidst its sputtering protests.

They barely made it out onto the sandy desert before thee entrance collapsed, ddust billowing out as a pile of rubble sealed the entrance.

Ezreal sighed in relief, tapping his gauntlet. It was inert. He would not be able to use it for a while as it recharged. He glanced over to Lydia, who was slumped on the floor, but was more or less alive. He looked back to see a couple of boys from a caravan rush toward them.

He smiled at Lydia. "Well, it could have been worse right?"

Lydia groaned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"That doesn't make sense," Ezreal said, gnawing on a jerky, swatting the flies away from the camel he was riding.

"I'm telling you that's how it is!" Lydia insisted. She too, rode a camel while several boys led them. She was no longer wearing her old clothes, instead sporting loose brown pants and a long-sleeved tunic, brownish-red in color.

"And I keep telling you, it's just not possible," Ezreal shook his head. "There is no way you can be transported from another world. Ignoring the debate of the existence of other worlds, there is no way that golem would have the energy to transport someone form a completely different world. A long-distance teleportation magic? Sure. Summoning someone from another world. Nope."

"But that's the only explanation!" Lydia said. The more she learned about where she was, the more she was certain she was a different world. A huge continent called Runeterra? A place where magic is common? Hextech devices? She had never heard of any of this. It did not help she could not remember anything leading up to the summoning. "Besides, didn't you say there could have been leftover energy in the archway?"

"But that's even harder to believe," Ezreal replied. "That would mean that whatever relics were used were at least ten times stronger to be able to leave such residual energy. Actually, make that thirty times stronger, since this archway probably hasn't been used in centuries. What kind of powerful relics would be able to leave energy like that?"

"I dunno," Lydia grumbled. "It's your world, not mine's." She set her mouth firmly and stared straight ahead, no longer looking at Ezreal.

Ezreal's face softened. "I'm sorry," he said. "I'm not trying to say you're lying. It just seems so impossible." He scratched his head. "Wait, what if we're both right?"

"Both of us?" Lydia said, puzzled.

"Yeah! What if you did come from a different world, but not from a different universe? What if you came from a different planet?" This explanation was far more feasible in Ezreal's opinion. It was already known there were other planets and that there was most likely life, and would explain why they never heard of each other. Furthermore, it would take far less energy (though a still pretty considerate amount) to teleport someone far away than it was to take someone from a different dimension.

"Hmm," Lydia mulled over that idea. It did make sense. Coming from a different planet was essentially coming from another world. "I suppose that could be true," she agreed. She sighed. "But then how on earth am I supposed to go back to, well, Earth? The only doorway we know of is probably destroyed, and even if it wasn't, would we even be able to send me back?"

Ezreal felt a twinge of guilt, knowing it was mostly his fault she got into this mess. She was right. Though he had said there may be other gateways like the one she came out of, there was no guarantee that was the case. At the very least, he never found other gateways like this one. And even if they did find one, there was no guarantee they could send her back. Ezreal may be a (self-proclaimed) prodigy, but he wasn't confident enough to teleport her back to her proper home, especially when he had no idea where exactly it was located. He suspected the only reason she managed to arrive here was most likely because that was the last destination marked before. Still, it was his fault.

"It'll be fine!" he said, smiling. "We'll figure it out!"

Lydia blinked. "You'll help me?" she said.

"Well, it is partially my fault…"

"More like one hundred percent your fault," she snorted, but her face broke into a smile. "Thanks." She looked around. "So where exactly are we?"

"Region-wise, Shurima," Ezreal said. "Used to have an ancient civilization that ruled over most of Runeterra. Now, though, ever since the fall of its last emperor, it's mostly home to nomadic tribes and ancient ruins. A place ripe with adventure."

"More specifically, though, we're crossing the _Sai Kahleek_," Ezreal continued. "Probably the most dangerous part of Shurima."

"Really? It doesn't look like it" Lydia said, squinting her eyes. "It looks like a regular desert."

"One filled with Xer'sai," Ezreal said. "They're these burrowing creatures that travel throughout here and attack whatever they can. Legend says they were the spawns of some Voidling long ago when Shurima defended Runeterra from the Void Invasion."

"Spawns of what now?"

"Voidling. Simply put, creatures that come from a dark savage dimension. Supposedly." Ezreal explained.

"Wait, so you believe that, but not me coming from another world?"

"I don't. It's just a legend. Most likely these Xer'sai were always here and people just spread rumors about it. Still though, we should careful. These Xer'sai can sense vibrations. That's why these boys are so insistent on us avoiding walking."

Suddenly, there was a shout from one of the boys. They halted the camels and several boys scrambled in that direction.

"Oh, seems like they found a tunnel," Ezreal said interestedly, hopping off the camel. He glanced back at Lydia. "Wanna check it out? I think I'm going to try and draw it into my journal."

"Is it safe to do that?"

"Well, they haven't rung the bell on that camel in the rear, so I assume it's fine for now. Come on!"

Lydia gingerly set herself down from the camel and followed along.

The boys were indeed huddled around a tunnel. It was about six feet wide in diameter, boring straight through a sand dune and down below.

"How is it?" Ezreal inquired, as he quickly sketched the tunnel.

"It is fine for now," said one boy. He seemed to be the oldest, although that wasn't saying much, as most of the boys looked to be about twelve and under. He gestured to the tunnel. "It is an old tunnel. There are no energy traces from it, so it must have been made at least three days ago. Most likely this Xer'sai is miles away from us."

"I see," Ezreal said as he sketched the tunnel. "Do you think this tunnel could be from Rek'sai?"

The boy shook his head. "It is far too small to belong to Rek'sai. And if it was Rek'sai, then it would not matter if this tunnel was made days ago. It could catch up to us in less than a day."

"Who's Rek'sai?" Lydia asked, curious.

"Rek'sai is supposed to be the scariest of the Xer'sai," Ezreal explained. "Supposedly, she has laid waste to much of Shurima after the empire's fall. It would be cool to see her…"

"If you see her, you will most likely die," the boy said sharply. "Xer'sai are already fearsome creatures, Rek'sai even more so. There is very little hope in survival if she targets you."

"Wait, have you seen her?" Ezreal said.

The boy was silent, then sighed. "Yes," he replied. "Many of my friends were killed, including my mentor. Only I survived."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, uh—" Lydia racked her brain to recall the boy's name.

"—Jaheje," the boy said simply. He waved his hand. "No need to feel sorry. Such is our job. But it is imperative that you follow my instructions if you wish to live."

Lydia and Ezreal nodded sheepishly. They watched as Jaheje pointed out to the other boys to observe the markings of the tunnel to determine how old the tunnel was. Lydia watched with great interest at the curious way the boys walked back to the caravan.

"What are they doing?" she asked Jaheje.

"They are practicing their silent-stepping," he replied. "It is so the Xer'sai do not sense our movement."

"How come you do not do it all the time then?"

Jaheje shook his head. "It is not as easy as it looks. We may be able to do it for several minutes, maybe even an hour or so, but it is almost impossible to completely silent-step for a whole day. It is mostly used to get to a cave or rocky area, where the Xer'sai cannot burrow." He paused thoughtfully. "Well, most Xer'sai" he amended darkly.

"Huh." Lydia continued watching the boys silent-step. "Still though, that's pretty cool."

"I can teach you if you wish," Jaheje said. "The nearest town is still a few days away."

"Oh, thanks, but I don't have any money," Lydia said.

"I do not pay for such lesson. I simply wish to increase everyone's chances of survival." He nodded towards Ezreal, who was now back on the camel and busy scribbling in his logbook. "I offered to teach him as well, but he gave up after an hour."

Lydia smirked at that. "I guess prodigies have their limits huh," she said. "Well, Jaheje, I'll take you up on that."

And so, Lydia practiced with Jaheje and the kids. It was, as Jaheje warned, a lot harder than it seemed. To begin with, Lydia had to practice silent-stepping barefoot, on the hot burning sand as it bit into her feet. Lydia grimaced in pain while Jaheje patiently taught her.

"You form is wrong," he said. "Remember, you must feel each step. You must roll your first foot completely before starting on the next."

Ezreal would watch in amusement as Lydia practiced. "Seems like you're having fun," he joked as Lydia bandaged her feet near the fire. Lydia glared at Ezreal before wincing in pain. "Well, at least I know I'm doing better than you did," she snapped, resuming her bandaging.

"Why are you trying so hard anyways?" Ezreal asked. "Planning to become an escort in the future?"

Lydia sighed. "I'm just trying to learn all I can," she said. She gestured to Ezreal. "I mean, if we're going to find out how to get me back, I need to be able to learn a few skills right? Leaving aside the question about how much of a prodigy you really are, you at least know how to defend yourself. I got nothing. I'm normal. You said so yourself. You don't sense any magic. And I'm not confident in my physical abilities. So at the very least, I want to learn as much as I can to help me survive and help out."

Ezreal was quite for a moment. Then he clapped his hands and nodded his head. "Well, I can understand that!" he said. "In that case, I, Ezreal, master of magic, will grant you honor of being my pupil!"

"No thanks," Lydia replied automatically.

"Why?!"

"I'm sorry, I said that without thinking. Still, no thanks."

"You're still rejecting me!?"

"I feel like this will be more trouble than it's worth."

"Please! Please let me be your teacher!"

Lydia frowned. "Do you really think I can learn magic?"

Ezreal scratched his head. "Honestly, I'm not sure. Technically everyone from our world can theoretically learn magic, though some are more talented than others. You're not the same though. But that also means that maybe you guys have something different. Didn't you say your world had stories of wizards and magic?"

"Yeah, but as far as I know, there isn't any magic in our world."

"But look at it this way. If you guys have stories like that, there must be a grain of truth there right? Maybe you guys also had magicians. Or, maybe people from my world came to your world and intermingled. So the chance isn't zero, right?"

Ezreal did have a point. If even in Lydia's world there was talk of magic, then there may be some grain of truth there. Lydia ruminated over this, then smiled sweetly at Ezreal.

"Still though, the answer's no."

"Why? Please, let me have the honor of teaching you!"

It took a good hour before Lydia finally relented and let Ezreal teach her.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The lesson went horribly.

Ezreal insisted it was because Lydia's magical affinity was probably so low that things did not go as well as they initially hoped, but Lydia strongly suspected that it had more to do with Ezreal's teaching.

She had to admit that at the very least, Ezreal seemed adept at using magic. Jaheje had watched with admiration when Ezreal demonstrated some of the spells he could use. But no matter how good Ezreal may be in magic, he was a terrible teacher. When Lydia asked about the basics of magic and what she should focus on, Ezreal stared back blankly and, after a momentary pause, said "Your gut I guess?"

His lesson did not get any better. He had procured a candle out of his knapsack and lit it. "Now, extinguish that flame using only your magic energy. Or make it stronger, that works as well."

Lydia stared at the candle, then stared back at Ezreal. "And how the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"Hell?" Ezreal asked. "What's that?"

"It's…you know what, never mind that!" Lydia rubbed her temples. "Do you expect me to just automatically know how to do that?"

Ezreal scratched his head. "Strange," he mumbled. "I think it's supposed to be easy? My tutors always liked to use this to gauge my aptitude."

"Keep in mind I am entirely new to this magic stuff," Lydia said dryly. "So I would like a more detailed explanation on how to do this."

"I keep telling you, it's all about how your gut feels! I guess it kinda feels like when you ate something bad, and you really gotta go I guess?"

"That is both unhelpful and horrifying!"

Lydia did not manage to extinguish the flame of the candle.

"We have arrived," Jaheje announced. Lydia blearily raised her head.

It had been a few days since Lydia had added magic training to her silent stepping practice, so she had been feeling a tad bit grumpy from all the exhaustion.

The rest of the trip was surprisingly uneventful. They did manage to chance upon what Jaheje said was a baby Xer'sai, but its shell was so cracked and broken up it gave little idea how exactly a Xer'sai looked like. She could make out what was most likely its head, based off what she assumed were teeth. It was surprisingly hard to tell when the creature did not have eyes.

"Well, Lyd, we are officially out of Sai Kahleek!" Ezreal said. "And here you were worried we might get eaten by a Xer'sai."

Lydia merely grunted in response. "I'll just be happy to finally have a place to sleep under," she grumbled. "We are staying the night, right?"

"Yeah," Ezreal replied. "I'm thinking we might spend tomorrow shopping for supplies, then head towards Piltover."

"Piltover? That's, uh, your hometown, isn't it?" Lydia said. "Why are we going there?"

"I was thinking we could check out the library at the Academy might have an idea where we should look," Ezreal said. "I mean, we could keep randomly searching every ruin in Shurima, but there's no guarantee that there's another of those gateways here. So instead of blindly running around hoping to find something, we should gather information first."

Lydia nodded. It was a logical decision. For an explorer who went around in search of adventure and mysterious quests, Ezreal was surprisingly a realist. Then again, it's probably what helped him survive in this kind of occupation. It was then she noticed something.

"Hey, Ez, is the village normally this crowded?" she asked. She noticed that there many people clogging the road that they were walking down, sww which she normally would not have considered unusual if Ezreal had not told her this was a quiet small village.

"Now that you mention it, it is unusual," Ezreal admitted. "Jaheje, do you have any idea why? Is there a festival happening or something?"

Jaheje shook his head. "I do not know either. I will ask." He gave a few terse instructions to the rest of the boys before heading towards a sentry. The other boys guided the camels to an adobe building slightly larger than the rest. Lydia and Ezreal walked inside.

The place was empty save for an old man who was wiping a mug with a rag. He looked up in surprise when he heard the door creak open.

"Well that's shocking," he said. "Didn't expect to find adventurers at this time, what with all that's been happening."

"Why? Did something happen?" Lydia asked.

He rubbed his grizzly chin. "Guess you haven't heard the news then."

"What news?" Ezreal piped in.

The old man eyed them for a second, then sighed. "I guess you'll find out sooner or later," he grumbled. "The whole village is moving soon."

"Really? Why is that?" Ezreal asked, barely able to hide his shock.

"It's those stupid Xer'sai. We've been seeing more tunnels in our area, and it seems like eventually the Xer'sai will take over this area soon enough. They might under our village any day now. Got everyone in a frenzy since we're moving to safer ground." He sighed again. "You're probably going to have a hard time getting supplies, by the way, since everyone's planning a journey."

Ezreal nodded in understanding. The issue with Sai Kahleek was that it was constantly expanding. While he himself did not belief that these Xer'sai were Void-spawns, it was undeniable they were not a natural part of the habitat. The Xer'sai would eat anything and lay waste to the area, and when they found none, would move further on. Centuries of this has caused Shurima to become an ever-increasing wasteland. Ezreal had read that in the past, Shurima was a lush paradise, foliage abounding as far as the eye could see, but looking at it now, it was hard to imagine that was the case.

Ezreal mulled over their situation. The village moving was an issue, both in the long-term and short-term. Most Shurimans were nomadic, and this was one of the few spots where travelers could certainly find and rest. And like the innkeeper said, everyone trying to move would make gathering supplies difficult. He might have been able to manage if he was by himself, but now…

He glanced back at Lydia, who was now looking around the place with interest.

Well, they can manage. He could figure it out somehow, he decided.

"Well, thanks for the info. Now, can we get a room for two? With meals as well." And with that he slipped a few coins to the innkeeper

The man grunted, examining the coins before taking a few and handing the rest back. "Of course. Normally I'd only give you one room, but what with all the moving, I'm willing to let you have an extra room for the miss."

"That would be great," Ezreal said. He handed a couple of coins over. "For the information," he said. The man silently took it and continued wiping his mug. "The rooms are upstairs. Take your pick."

Ezreal smiled before heading upstairs, Lydia following.

"Are the Xer'sai really that bad?" Lydia asked.

"I think so. I heard their hide is really tough, so you have to aim between the chinks to actually kill them," Ezreal said.

"Are we going to be ok traveling to Piltover then?"

"I think we'll be fine. We'll spend tomorrow trying to find out about where they saw the tunnels and go around the area. Besides, they're preparing now, so that technically means the Xer'sai aren't here yet. As long as we don't stay too long, we should be fine."

"As long as you don't jinx us," Lydia muttered, which Ezreal decided to ignore.

Jaheje later arrived and confirmed what the innkeeper had told them. The village was preparing to leave, and just about a week ago, a tunnel was sighted about ten miles of here, causing panic amongst most of the village. There were even claims that a huge tunnel, spanning at least thirty feet in diameter, had been found.

"Perhaps I should accompany further," he said worriedly. "I would not wish for you to fall prey to the Xer'sai."

"Thanks for worrying about us, but it'll be fine," Ezreal reassured him. "You also have to leave too, right? You should focus on that and your boys. Besides, like you said, the Xer'sai are not here yet, right? We'll just leave as fast as we can."

"But the rumors of Rek'sai—"

"Are not confirmed. Don't worry!" Ezreal patted Jaheje on the back, who sighed.

"I will at least help find supplies for you," Jaheje relented. "They know me better than you, so I can at least convince them to sell some of their stuff."

"That would be great. Oh, and if you can, can you try to get a Doran's set if they have them?" Ezreal pulled out his purse and handed it to Jaheje. "Try to leave some money leftover please."

Jaheje nodded. And with that he left.

"Well, I think we should get some sleep for the day tomorrow." He said to Lydia, who nodded. And with that, they both headed to their respective rooms and sunk into blissful sleep.

The next day, they went around the village asking about the tunnel sightings. Most were too much in a hurry to speak to them, but a few were chatty. They met in the town square as they tried to figure out their path.

"So you said the lady heard there were tunnels near the rock precipe?" Ezreal said, a map spread, quill in hand as he methodically marked—well, tried to mark—the approximate places the Xer'sai could be.

"Yeah, whatever that means," Lydia said.

Ezreal sighed. "These accounts are too conflicting," he grumbled. "If they were all true, we're practically surrounded…" He crossed his arms. "Maybe we'll just have to continue on our original plan and just leave as soon as possible. Time is of the essence after all." He glanced at the sun, which was starting to set. "Depending on how much of the supplies Jaheje gets, we might try to leave as soon as tomorrow. It's probably the best thing we can do." He rolled up the map. "Come on, let's head back. Jaheje is probably already there."

They did find Jaheje inside the inn, who waved at them from a table, but there was somebody else with him. A dark-haired lady with olive skin was leaning back against her chair, her hand casually over a curious weapon, a gold crossblade that glinted dimly with green gems.

Lydia rolled her eyes when she noticed that Ezreal was hurriedly fixing his hair. She walked past him and strode over to Jaheje.

"Hello, Jaheje. Did you manage to get all the supplies?" she said.

"All of them, though perhaps not as much as we hoped for," he replied. He gestured to the two knapsacks next to him.

"And who is this pretty lady, if I may ask?" piped in Ezreal, flashing a smile.

Jaheje nodded towards the lady. "While I was out shopping for supplies, she approached me, having heard about travelers who intend to leave Shurima. She wishes to offer her services in escorting you."

"For the right price," the lady added.

Ezreal was still smiling, but now it looked strained. "Um, well, miss, while I appreciate the offer, we really are fine."

"Are you now?" she replied disinterestedly. "So you're confident that not only you can avoid the Xer'sai, but you can survive off the meager supplies you've scrounged up? And that you can fend off the Kthaon tribe, who definitely has heard about this move and will pick off any straggler?"

Lydia stirred. "The Kthaon?" she asked.

The lady smiled sweetly. "A raider tribe in Shurima that likes to attack travelers and caravans, especially when they're most vulnerable. Most people end up dead."

"But there's no way the Kthaon would risk trying to get us when there are rumors of the Xer'sai expanding their area," Ezreal argued.

The lady snorted. "Are you willing to bet your life on that?" she challenged Ezreal. "The Kthaon are brave, to the point of stupidity. If you want to take your chances, then go ahead."

"You didn't mention anything about raider tribes!" Lydia hissed at Ezreal.

"I didn't think it was going to be an issue!" Ezreal said defensively. He eyed the lady, who had a small smile.

"Ok, so even if I accept that you may have a point, what do you have to offer? I don't think that one extra person will change our odds that much."

"Oh, I'm not by myself," the lady said. "I have my own group, ready to follow when I tell them to."

"But I don't have much money." Ezreal said warily.

"I think you have enough, pretty boy," the lady said. "I'm in a good mood anyways, so I'd be willing to lower my prices. Not too much though."

Ezreal scratched his head. "Can you give us a moment?" he finally said. She nodded. Ezreal led Jaheje and Lydia away, glancing back at the lady.

"What do you say, Jaheje?" Ezreal asked. "Do you recommend her?"

"If you can afford it, I see no reason not to hire Sivir," Jaheje replied.

"You know her?"

"She is well known across Shurima. She is rather expensive, but she gets the job done. I have heard though that her loyalty only goes so far as the coin."

Ezreal mulled over this. "If she's right about the Kthaon, then she might hand us over if it means getting more money then," he muttered.

Jaheje shook his head. "I very much doubt it. I do not know why, but I hear the Kthaon hates Sivir specifically. They may even pay you to give her up sooner than Sivir giving you up."

"I think it's probably fine if we go with her," Lydia said.

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" Ezreal said.

Lydia shrugged. "She seems pretty reliable. More so than you at least."

"Hey, I'm plenty reliable!" Ezreal protested, but Lydia just rolled her eyes. Ezreal sighed in resignation.

"Fine, I'll hire you. But that depends on the price." They walked back to the table where Sivir was waiting. She smiled at Ezreal's sullen face.

"Well then," she said. "Shall we negotiate?"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

After Ezreal haggled with Sivir (and sadly parted with his rapidly depleting coins), they agreed to set out tomorrow morning, and with that, they headed to their respective beds.

Lydia was blearily woken up by the rapping of Ezreal on her door, and about an hour later, they were at the outskirts of the village, waiting for Sivir on their camels.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot," Ezreal said, rummaging around in his knapsack. "This is for you." He handed over a wrapped package.

Lydia blinked in surprise, but took it and unwrapped it.

Inside was a small dagger, a curiously shaped hexagonal ring, and a wooden shield. Lydia picked up the dagger, unsheathing it, the glint of steel reflecting off her face.

"They're weapons forged by Doran," Ezreal explained. "He's famous for his beginner-friendly weapons." He pointed at the dagger Lydia was holding. "That heals you whenever you manage to hit someone with it. This ring will help increase your magical abilities and magic regeneration, and the shield, well, it blocks things. Like a shield."

Lydia quietly sheathed the dagger and began to examine the other items. Ezreal fidgeted.

"I thought, you know, it's probably best for you to not be defenseless," he said. "And since we don't know what you specialize in, I thought getting the usual Doran's set would be a safe bet. 'Course, we could have waited until we got to Piltover and we could have got hextech weapons, but there's no harm in—"

"Thanks," Lydia interrupted, laughing at how nervous Ezreal looked. "Really, I do appreciate it. Even if you're a terrible magic teacher."

"I'm telling you, it's your low magical affinity at fault, not my teaching!" Ezreal protested. Lydia ignored him as she attached the dagger around her waist, fumbled buckling the shield over her arm, and slipped the ring over her index finger. She looked over herself, then nodded, satisfied.

"Well, I don't feel any stronger, but I do feel better," she remarked. She peered at the village. "Shouldn't Sivir be here by now?"

"She better be," Ezreal grumbled. "I already gave her initial deposit. Honestly, just because she's a pretty lady she thinks she can get away with conning me out of my money."

"She kinda did, Ez." Lydia replied, still searching for a sign of Sivir.

"She did not!"

"Oh please. I saw how you lost your cool when she leaned over and whispered into your ear. What did she even say to you?"

"Th-that's none of your business!"

Lydia snorted at that, but decided to not pursue the matter. "Hey, I think I see her. I think Jaheje's with her too."

Ezreal followed Lydia's gaze. Sure enough, he saw Jaheje, and walking next to him, wearing a cloak that hid the emerald headband, was Sivir. Ezreal could see now that following Sivir was a group of warriors, sporting all sorts of weapons, from spears to scimitars, their armor slightly worn, most likely from the beating sand. A trail of camels followed along, laden with supplies.

"Hey sweeties. Been waiting long?" Sivir called out. Lydia waved while Ezreal remained silent.

Jaheje nodded politely towards Lydia and Ezreal, while Sivir strode over to the spare camel and hitched herself up.

"It was nice talking with you Jaheje," she said. "Hey, if you ever get tired of escorting people across Sai Kahleek, you should consider joining my group."

"I will keep that in mind," Jaheje replied, bowing slightly.

"May the sun shine the way on your path," Sivir said.

"And the sand be firm under your feet," Jaheje replied. He turned towards Lydia and Ezreal. "I hope that you have safe journeys and find what you are looking for."

"Yeah, same to you," Ezreal said. "Don't get eaten by a Xer'sai, ok?"

"I will do my best not to," Jaheje replied simply. He bowed slightly and headed back to the village.

"Well," Sivir said after a moment's pause. "Shall we head out?"

Lydia was worried that the band of mercenaries were a tough, unsociable lot, but they were surprisingly amiable.

"I was younger than you when I decided to go out and have my own adventures," a broad-shouldered man said fondly. "It was actually my first quest that got me this scar." He gestured at a long thin scar peeking out from under his chin. "Damn Xer'sai tried to claw at my throat. It was a good thing I ran off with a mercenary group that actually knew what they were doing, else I wouldn't be here!" He laughed uproariously.

"Oh shush. No need to blubber all over them." A young woman, slight in frame, scoffed at the man. "Ignore Kaveh. He's been getting sentimental lately whenever he sees young adventurers."

Kaveh waved his hand dismissively. "You just don't understand Shishkah," he said. "Don't you have any sense of our journey? The thrill of not quite knowing what to expect?"

"Not really," Shishkah replied. "I just follow where Sivir points and strike it with my spear."

Kaveh shook his head, then turned to Lydia. "Don't you guys ever become like her," he said. "She's already lost her sense of adventure. She is milk that has already turned sour."

"Not all of us are in it for the adventure," Shishkah snapped. "Some of us are actually trying to make a living here."

Kaveh merely shrugged. "Like I said, milk that is already sour."

The rest of the mercenary group was similarly boisterous, and Lydia soon found herself bouncing between the mercenaries as they exchanged tales of their greatest adventures and feats. Even Ezreal began piping in and telling his death-defying explorations, though Lydia had a feeling he probably exaggerated some parts.

Through all of this, however, she noticed that Sivir spoke little, save for a few orders and the occasional snarky remark.

"Sivir doesn't seem very social," she muttered to Kaveh. "Is it because we're here?"

Kaveh shook his head. "She is always like that. She has always kept her distance from us, despite being our leader."

"The only thing she ever trusts is money," Shiskah added.

Kaveh nodded. "I did hear a rumor that she became like that after a mercenary group she trusted robbed her and left her to die." He clicked his tongue. "It's those kinds of people that gives us mercenaries bad names."

"Damn right they do," Shiskah said, scowling as she did so. "I like money as much as the next person, but that's just heartless."

That was not to say that Sivir never was amiable. She appeared to enjoy watching Lydia as she practiced in their free time. With the addition of the dagger and shield, she now added sparring to her magic practice and silent stepping.

Sivir was impressed with her silent-stepping, laughed at her awkward attempt to fight with the dagger and sword, and dismissive at Lydia's attempt to learn magic.

"I only bothered to learn one spell, and that's all I ever need," she said while Lydia (in vain) tried to extinguish the flame from the candle. Ezreal was rather miffed by this statement.

"To say learning one spell is all you need sounds like someone who is overconfident," he said stiffly, but Sivir just grinned.

"Really now?" she said. "Do you really think that?" Ezreal simply nodded. "Fine then. For free, how about I prove you wrong?" She walked over to the side, away from the mercenary group. "Come," she said. "Hit me with your best spell."

"What?" Ezreal said blankly. Sivir sighed.

"I said to hit me with your best spell. No need to hold back. Not like you could do anything anyways."

Ezreal bristled at this statement. He aimed his gauntlet and fired a ray of energy. Despite her taunt, Ezreal was not willing to go all out and accidentally kill her. Besides, if he did, then even if she survived, he'd probably attract all sorts of monsters…

Still, though, he felt as he put a decent amount of power into this blast. It was definitely stronger than his regular rays.

The ray stopped about three feet away from Sivir, dissipating. Ezreal blinked.

"A spell shield?" he said incredulously. "Seriously?"

A spell shield was an advanced spell that often took many spellcasters decades to master. Theoretically, it should be able to block any spell that it comes into contact with. To think that Sivir somehow managed to learn such a complex spell meant, far from his initial assumption, she was actually quite adept at magic casting.

Sivir chuckled. "This is your best shot?" she said. "I gotta say, I'm pretty disappointed."

"That was just a test attack!" And with that, Ezreal pumped several more shots, but to no avail, all of the rays dissipating. Ezreal's frustration grew. Well, if it was going to be like that, then he had no choice but to pull out his strongest spell. Monsters be damned, he was going to wipe the smirk off her face. He was about to prepare the spell when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He looked over to see Lydia looking at him with pity.

"It's ok Ez," she said. "No need to feel embarrassed."

"I can do better!" Ezreal protested. "I'm sure I can break it!"

"Yes yes," Lydia said consolingly. "I'm sure you're just tired, that's all."

"That's not it!" And with that, Ezreal left in a huff.

"You see? I just use this spell to confuse the mages and then just throw my crossblade at them. Dead mage, done. That's all I ever needed." Sivir told Lydia

"That's pretty cool," Lydia said admiringly. "Do you think you could teach that to me?"

"Sure. For a price," Sivir said, winking.

"Never mind then," Lydia muttered.

Sivir laughed at that. "Well, I'm going to keep watch now. You have fun with your magic training."

And so the days passed, with Lydia struggling to better herself. Some of the mercenaries saw her training and pitched in. Kaveh instructed her on proper stances and techniques while fighting with a shield and dagger, and a mage gave pointers that considerably made more sense than Ezreal's vague 'gut senses' (though she still was unable to extinguish the flame). Sishkah, out of curiosity, joined in on practicing silent-stepping, and soon surpassed Lydia, able to silent step at least a good ten paces further than her.

One day, she woke up to find Ezreal and Sivir arguing with each other.

"Shouldn't we go around and then head to the coast?" Ezreal said.

"And I keep telling you, if we go that way, we could get attacked by Xer'sai!" Sivir replied.

"What's going on?" Lydia said.

"Your friend would rather risk going through Xer'sai territory than going around," Sivir said.

"_Used _to be," Ezreal said. "The Xer'sai's don't hang around there anymore since it's a wasteland. I literally just used this pathway when I first got here with no problems, yet you would rather have us go around and risk that – what are they called again? – Kthaon ambush us."

"That I would," Sivir said. "Humans I can handle. Xer'sai less so. Besides, having not seen any Xer'sai on one trip does not mean they have disappeared entirely."

Ezreal threw up his hands in frustration. "What do you think Lydia?"

"Me?" Lydia said, surprised.

"Yeah, between the two choices, which one do you think is the better decision?"

Lydia hesitated before answering slowly. "Well, honestly, I have no idea about the dangers between either of them…but if I had to go with which one, I think trusting the judgement of a person native to the land is usually a better idea." She looked apologetically at Ezreal.

"See? She understands." Sivir said.

Ezreal stared at Lydia, shocked at her answer, but then his shoulders slumped in resignation.

"Fine then," he mumbled. "Suit yourselves." He got up without another word and got on his camel, sullen. Lydia stared at him worriedly.

"He's just throwing a tantrum," Sivir said reassuringly. "I am sure it will pass."

Lydia nodded. Honestly, both options sounded pretty bad. For the first time, reality sunk in that she might actually die here and never return to Earth.

"Will everything turn out all right?" she asked.

"I hope so, Lydia," Sivir replied grimly. "I hope so."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Lydia scrunched up her face in concentration, gritting her teeth, and inhaled sharply, trying to feel the flow of mana inside of her, but to no avail. The flame flickered briefly before sputtering out, having reached the end of the wick.

Lydia sighed and rummaged around in her knapsack, pulling out a new candle.

It had been a week ever since it was decided to follow Sivir's decision. Ever since Lydia had sided with Sivir, Ezreal refused to speak to her. Well, he did respond if asked a question, but they were often terse and sparse.

"It'll be fine," Kaveh reassured Lydia, when she had voiced her concern a couple of days ago. "He's just throwing a small tantrum."

"You sure?" Lydia said. "He hasn't been talking to anybody either."

Kaveh rubbed his chin. "It sounds like you guys only recently started traveling, no?" he said. "He's not used to having to listen to any other opinion than his own, so he may be a bit biased on how sound his judgement is, and finding out his new traveling partner doesn't agree was a reality check for him. If he truly is a proper traveler though, he'll learn to get over it and accept that his opinion isn't always right."

"Ok," Lydia said, still unconvinced

So far, it did not seem like Ezreal had any intention of 'getting over it'. Lydia did not know what could happen after Sivir finished escorting them. Surely he wouldn't just leave her behind, would he?

Lydia sighed. There was no way she could concentrate. Perhaps she'll take a nap before her watch shift. She stuffed the candle back and laid down, closing her eyes.

She really hoped she did not have to figure out how to go back to Earth by herself.

The next day was the same as it had been. In other words, sweltering hot. Despite wearing a cloak and covering most of her body, Lydia could still feel the sun beating down on her, and though she wasn't sure, she think she might've had her nose sunburned.

"How much longer before we finally cross Shurima?" she grumbled, to no one in particular.

"If we keep up the pace, I would say another five days," a voice replied. Lydia craned her neck to see Sivir approaching from behind. She too, was cloaked, but looked far more comfortable in the heat. It did not even seem like she was sweating.

"I'm going to be ashes before then," Lydia groaned. Sivir grinned at this.

"And to think when I first saw you, I thought you might have been a Shuriman," she said. "Guess I was wrong. Where are you from? Piltover? Ionia?"

Lydia hesitated. While she and Ezreal were traveling with Jaheje, they had agreed to keep the fact that she came from another world a secret. Her cover story (for the moment) was that she was a girl from a small tribe Ezreal came in contact with when he traveled to an unnamed island. Upon hearing of what happened outside, Lydia managed to convince Ezreal to take her outside and experience Runeterra herself.

Something told her that Sivir would not fall for such a story, however. As Lydia tried to figure out what to say, Sivir snorted in amusement.

"Don't need to tell me if you don't want to," she said. "As long as I get paid, that's all that matters to me."

Lydia nodded, relieved. "Is it true that you would take any job as long as the price is right?"

"Not all jobs," Sivir said. "I wouldn't take jobs that involve killing myself, for one." She paused then, frowning slightly. "Actually, maybe I would, if I could pretend to be dead. Probably not, though. I feel like I would lose business overall."

"Ok, but besides that, is there any code that you follow? Things you won't absolutely won't do?" Lydia insisted.

Sivir mulled over it, before saying "No, I don't think there is, really."

"Even if it involved attacking Shurima?" Lydia said.

"If the price is right, then sure," Sivir replied. "Oh wow, is it really that suprising?"

"But Shurima's your home," Lydia said. "It just seems weird that you'd be willing to fight and die for another cause."

"I'll fight for a cause. I won't die for one," Sivir corrected. "I'm loyal only to coin. Nothing more, nothing less."

"So would you sell us out if someone offered you a higher payment?"

"Oh definitely," Sivir said, but smirked a moment later. "The look on your face! Don't worry, once I've accepted a job, I follow through. I'm not sacrificing myself for you though." Sivir then craned her neck back. "Is pretty boy still sulking about taking a different route?"

"Yeah," Lydia said, deciding to go along with the obvious change of subject. She glanced back to see Ezreal was busy scribbling something down in his journal. Maybe he found some desert plant he'd never seen before.

Sivir clicked her tongue. "He's a sensitive one, that one," she said. "Glad I'm not stuck with him."

"He's not that bad," Lydia said. "I mean, yeah, he's a bit full of himself, and he spends forever gelling his hair to look that way, and well, I could go on forever, but the point being, he has his good points."

Sivir blinked. "Oh yeah, I realize that," she said. "I just feel like personality-wise, him and I are not a good match. That argument we had the other day would just be the first of many. We'd probably be at each other's throats any longer than our journey. Besides…"

"Besides?" Lydia said. She thought she heard Sivir mutter "He's too good for me to hang out with", but she wasn't sure.

"Nothing. I just have a feeling that it'd be better if we weren't in the same group." Sivir said. "You two, on the other hand, are far more compatible traveling companions."

"I don't know," Lydia sighed. "With the way things are going, it doesn't feel like that at all."

"I'm sure it'll work out," Sivir said. "Just trust me on this, ok?"

Lydia was about to open her mouth in response when she heard a clanging sound. It took her a moment to realize it was the rear guard clanging a bell atop of a camel, with another mercenary rushing towards Sivir.

"Kthaons spotted in the northeast, riding on horseback!" the mercenary said.

"How many?" Sivir said.

"It is hard to say, but we believe there to be at least fifty of them!"

"Fifty?" Sivir frowned. "Why? They usually hunt in smaller group than that."

"We're not sure, but at the rate they're coming, they'll soon approach us in about an hour. Should we run?" the mercenary said.

Sivir pursed her lips, seeming irritated.

"No," she said finally. "There's no way we'd be able to outrun them. We'll stay here and make preparations. I'll talk with them. It could be possible they're simply migrating to a different region. I'd rather not get into a fight unless it's necessary."

The mercenary nodded, saluting Sivir before heading back.

"All right, everyone!" Sivir yelled. "Gear up! Be prepared for anything! I want this place fortified and all traps ready in twenty minutes!"

"And you," Sivir said, looking at Lydia. "I hope you know how to stay alive."

The group of riders arrived, their faces covered by cloth. The one in the front made a hand gesture and shouted something that Lydia could not discern, and all the riders halted about a hundred feet away. The person got off the horse and pulled off his hood and cloth, revealing a burly man. He grinned, revealing yellow, emaciated teeth.

"Jeez, has this guy never of dental hygiene?" Ezreal muttered, who was standing next to Lydia. Lydia blinked, checking back to see if he wasn't talking to someone else, but there was no one. She wasn't sure how to respond. This was the first time Ezreal had spoken to her unprompted. Should she just laugh and act as if the incident never happened? Apologize?

While she was wrestling on what to do, the man shouted, his voice clear.

"Well, what have we here!" he said. "I heard that there was a group crossing here, and it seems the gods willed it that we meet!" He raised his hands in an open gesture. "Well, I accept! Today, we make another offering to them!" At this, the group behind cried out in unison, raising their weapons.

"So it would seem, boys," Sivir said, uncowed. "Unfortunately, there's nothing much to see here. We're just a ragtag bunch, barely worth the time. I can assure you-" at this, Sivir gestured at Kaveh and Shishkah "-that these two barely have any money worth pilfering over. So how about we pretend we never saw each other?"

"Clever," Ezreal said begrudgingly, Lydia nodding in agreement.

The man spat at the ground. "Bah!" he said. "I disagree. For me, for us, it would be worth it. Very much so." He glared at Sivir. "Unlike you, we do not always judge by money, Battle Mistress."

At this, Sivir stiffened. "So you know who I am?" she said.

"That we do!" the man said. "When I heard that a woman with a crossblade passed through, an emerald crowned atop her head as if she thought herself queen, I knew it could only be you! For months we have sought after you, to spill your blood on the ground!"

The man puffed himself up. "I am Lan'nie!" he bellowed. "Son of Tark, brother of Thisnu! You killed my brother, and for that, your head will roll!" He raised his hand, and the group of riders charged forth.

Sivir tore off her cloak in fluid movement, revealing her armor underneath her emerald headband glinting in the sunlight, her shoulder plates and shin plates sporting similar gems. Without pausing, Sivir threw her crossblade the incoming horses, slicing cleanly through the legs of about six horses before it flew back as she nimbly caught it.

Chaos and confusion soon followed for the riders as the horses fell down with their riders, as the riders behind tried to hurriedly rear their horses, with mixed success. Some of the fallen riders were met with stampeding hooves, and even those who reared their horses fell off, or were shoved by the other rear riders.

Sivir's mercenary group, meanwhile, did not waste any time taking the initiative. Shishkah picked up a javelin and threw it, hitting a rider squarely in the chest, the rider staring dumbly at their chest before they slumped down. Shishkah clicked her tongue, seemingly displeased with her aim, before picking up another javelin and throwing it, managing to pierce through two horses.

Kaveh, on the other hand, had rushed into the fray, and, with a yell, hacked at a rider with his sword. He grabbed the body thrust it out in front of him, right before an arrow came flying towards him, lodging into the already dying rider. He threw the body away and continued hacking away, occasionally blocking bashing the riders with his shield.

Ezreal was holding on his own as well. He would flit about, just as arrows and swords were about to connect, and counter with a ray of energy, saying quips like "Miss me!" or "Thought you'd get the great Ez, huh?" The riders appeared to be getting increasingly frustrated at the 'pretty boy' that kept making snarky remarks, despite their anger at Sivir.

Lydia watched all this dumbly, at a loss at what to do, clasping tightly to her Doran's dagger. It never really sunk in while she was training that she might actually have to fight for her life, and that she may even have to kill. But seeing the brutal displays in front of her, reality came crashing down on her, and she was rooted in spot.

A few of the Kthaons, who had dismounted off his horse, noticed her and charged. As they did so, one of them exploded, while the others were sent flying back. A magical trap, Lydia dimly recalled, as she stayed where she was.

The Kthaons were disoriented, but managed to stumble their way to her. One of them raised his sword. Lydia, out of reflex, put her hand up. The sword connected with her Doran shield, and she stumbled back, dazed at the shock of the blow. Another rider thrust his sword at her, and Lydia clumsily parried, the sword nicking her right arm, a flash of pain knocking Lydia out of her daze.

She lifted her shield up as she analyzed the riders. Three of them, two with swords and one with a spear. They all outdistanced her, she thought gloomily. She doubted she could handle one of them, let alone three. But she'd be damned if she wasn't going without a fight. With that grim resolve, she steeled herself.

Then she heard a whizz, and a second later, one of the Kthaons fell down, blood gushing out off his chest. The other two did not have time to register what happened before one's head flew off and the other's chest was gouged out. The object whirled up and back before it was snatched up by none other than Sivir.

"I never like those who didn't fight fair," Sivir said. She looked at the fighting happening around them. "You head on over to Shishkah," she said. "She'll be able to protect you. This fight should not last much longer. I'll create an opening. On my word…Go!"

Lydia nodded, and began running towards Shishkah. She was about halfway to her when she slipped, the sand soaked with blood. As she spat out sand and struggled to get up, she saw that some of the Kthaon riders had just released a hail of arrows, and she was in the center of it. There was no way she could outrun that. She closed her eyes tightly, expecting the worst.

"Lyd!" she heard a voice cry out, and the next moment she felt a hand on her shoulder. She opened it and found Ezreal crouched next to her.

"Ezre-?" but before she had time to finish her question, Ezreal grabbed her roughly and blinked the two of them, blinking and dodging the hail of arrows. He teleported next to Shishkah, who jumped slightly in surprise before glaring at him.

"Watch her please," he said tersely, before teleporting away. Shishkah looked like she had some choice words to say, but thought better of it and glared balefully at Lydia.

"Stick close and you should be fine," she said sullenly. "Keep a lookout behind me and let me know if someone sneaking up." And with that, she pulled out a javelin from a Kthaon, observing it momentarily before throwing it another Kthaon.

The battle did end in a matter of minutes, as Sivir predicted. Kaveh managed to grab the leader and drag him towards Sivir, while what remained of the Kthaon forces, seeing the leader held captive, ran away.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Sivir remarked. She turned to Shiskah "Report?"

"Two dead, seven injured, one of them critically," she said. Sivir closed her eyes momentarily before nodding. She leaned slightly forward to Lan'nie. "Well, Lan'nie," she said. "It appears you have failed in your quest of vengeance."

Lan'nie spat at her. Kaveh raised his hand, about to strike him, but Sivir raised a hand, stopping him. She slowly wiped the spit away from her face.

"You know the funny thing about this?" she finally said. "Here you are, all torn up about your brother, calling up all these forces to kill me, but try as might…I can't remember who your brother is."

Lan'nie, who was struggling, stopped, surprise flickering in his face. Sivir scratched her head, frowning.

"Did you brother wield a scimitar?" she said. "I think I remember a Kthaon like him. Is that it?"

"My brother did not wield a scimitar!" Lan'nie scowled. "He wielded a spear!"

"A spear? Really?" Sivir began pacing around. "A spear guy…a spear guy…" she shook her head. "I got nothing. Was your brother one of the lower ranked ones?"

"How dare you!" Lan'nie roared. "My brother is the son of Tark, the chief's second-in-command! He had his own squad, who he led honorably!"

"Did he now?" Sivir shrugged. "If you say so."

"Belittle him all you wish, for you will soon be dead!" Lan'nie said. "Even now, as we speak, the others must have already notified and marked to the rest that you are here. For too long you have spilled Kthaon blood! You are a plague to us, that we must rid of! Soon, all of the Kthaon tribe will trail after you!"

"Did they now?" Sivir said, arching her eyebrows.

Lan'nie laughed. "Yes," he said. "So say your prayers, Battle Mistress, for your days are numbered!"

"In that case, we have no time to waste," Sivir said, and without another word, slit Lan'nie throat. He gurgled for a second, bloody froth at his mouth, before slumping down, dead.

"You heard him," Sivir said to her group. "The Kthaon are en route to us like a pack of Hurgals, so bury the dead and tend to the wounded as fast as we can before we make a break for it."

"Will we be able to outrun them?" Lydia asked. Sivir glared at her momentarily before sighing.

"If what he says is true, then I honestly doubt we can," she admitted. "Kthaons breed the best horses for this environment, and if all the tribe is targeting us, they can probably block us off both ways."

"Then are you planning on fighting them?"

"No, that would practically be suicide," Sivir said. "My mercenary group may be good, but there's a limit to what we can handle."

"So how are we going to get rid of them?" Lydia said.

Sivir looked up at the sky before turning to Ezreal.

"Hey, pretty boy," she said. "Still up for the idea of going through Xer'sai territory?"


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

"Are you sure about this?" Ezreal asked for the umpteenth time.

"Pretty sure this is our best shot," Sivir replied. "Why are you so worried? You were all for crossing Xer'sai territory not that long ago."

"But that was before I realized that you practically have a whole tribe after your head!" Ezreal said.

Sivir sighed. "As I told you, if we cut through Xer'sai territory, bloodthirsty they may be, they Kthaon would not be willing to risk getting chasing us through here."

"Isn't that still pretty concerning then that we're crossing through it then!? If even the Kthaon is not willing to cross here, then maybe you were right about avoiding this area."

Though it was hard to tell, it looked to Lydia that Sivir had just rolled her eyes. "Now he trusts me," she grumbled. "Well, by going this way, we'll manage to take a shortcut with no issues. With the Kthaon forced to go around instead of cutting through like us, we'll be able to outrun them and, if what you said is true, not run into any Xer'sai."

"Ok," Ezreal said, looking unconvinced, but he had nothing else to say. He lapsed into silence, eyeing Lydia out the corner of his eyes.

Lydia had been unusually quiet for the past couple of days, despite Kaveh's ribbing. Even Shiskah had tried to make some small talk, but to no avail. She had just been trudging along silent, her mind clearly not focused on the travel, and the conversation would peter away.

Ezreal cleared his throat. "So, uh," he said awkwardly. "You don't suppose we'll get ambushed by the Kthaon or a voracious tunneling abomination, do you?"

It took a couple of seconds for Lydia to realize that Ezreal was talking to her. "Wait, what?" she said.

"The Xer'sai," Ezreal said, most likely thinking Lydia did not understand the reference. "You know, the ones believed to be from the Void?"

"Oh. I dunno," Lydia said, averting her eyes, not making eye contact with Ezreal. "I mean, we'll probably be fine, I guess? Sivir's group seems capable at least."

"Yeah, I guess that's true," Ezreal replied, scratching ahead.

The silence felt thick, as if it was coiling about their necks and making it difficult to breathe, let alone speak.

"That was your first battle, wasn't it?" Ezreal said suddenly. "I mean, from what you told me, you didn't really have any fights like this before, right?"

Lydia flinched at that, as Ezreal had touched upon what was weighing on her mind these past days. She gulped slightly.

"It all felt like a dream," she said softly. "I mean, I knew it wasn't, but ending up in a completely different place, with magic, going on adventure to find a way back, it didn't – it didn't seem real. I guess I must have unconsciously thought that I wouldn't die or something. But when that battle happened, it all just sunk in. I may be the only person here who knows of Earth, and I may never be able to go back. Never able to see my parents, my little brother-" her voice broke slightly as she tried to hold back her tears.

Ezreal awkwardly reached out and patted her on the back. "It must be rough," he said, his face serious. "I won't say I understand your situation, but even I understand how confusing getting into an actual fight for your life is like. It's even scarier when your by yourself, certain you're going to die and no one will know. But I promise, we'll stick things through. No matter what, whether we have to go the ends of the world, we'll find a way to get you back." He gave a thumbs up.

Lydia gave a shaky smile. "Quite confident in yourself, aren't you, Mr. Prodigal Explorer?" she said.

Ezreal winked. "I am a prodigy after all," he said, flipping his hair. Lydia laughed.

"I'm sorry for siding with Sivir over you," Lydia said.

Ezreal shook his head. "Don't be," he said. "Even after that Kthaon mishap, Sivir still had the right idea. It was just hard for me to accept that. I'm sorry I took it too personally. Next time I start getting a big head like that, do me a favor and smack me on the side of the head or something?"

"With pleasure," Lydia said, a wicked gleam in her eyes, making Ezreal wish he hadn't said that. Hurriedly, he changed the subject. "So did you see how I managed to dominate in that skirmish?"

"Oh, that?" Lydia snorted. "I did notice how you tried to slide and shoot at that Khtaon but missed entirely?"

"Th-that was a warning shot!"

Amidst Lydia's laughter, Kaveh grinned and began talking about his battle, nudging Shiskah, who begrudgingly also began to discuss with them.

Sivir moved to the front to scout ahead, but almost imperceptibly, a hint of a smile danced across her face.

It was the fourth day traveling when danger struck. The caravan was moving along in their usual pattern, Ezreal telling of his adventures to Lydia as she scoffed at the reliability of his tales when suddenly, the ground near them erupted.

Lydia barely had time to register what had happened before she saw a flash of purple lunging toward a camel, a shrieking cry emitting out as it did so. The camel, startled, tried to move, but was weighed down by the luggage. Even without the luggage, Lydia highly doubted that the camel would have been able to escape anyways. The camel fell down, blood spraying out from its neck, braying loudly.

Sivir's group of mercenaries were quick to react. Already a few had sprung off of their camels, pinning down the monster against the camel, some mercilessly stabbing their swords though the monster and the camel. A few were in the back muttering spells, and a barrier covered the monster, snaring it. The monster made a terrible clacking sound as it tried to break free, but was unable to. Shiskah and a few others approached it with spears in hands.

"Remember, the chinks!" Sivir called out, watching this scene fold coolly. Shiskah nodded slightly before striking down her spear.

The monster made a piercing cry, leaving a ringing in Lydia's ears, as it writhed about furiously, a green ooze spurting out of its body. But soon, it's body stopped moving and it fell, limp.

"And that, guys, was a Xer'sai," Sivir said, striding over to examine it. She pursed her lips slightly. "A baby. No wonder we weren't able to notice it until it had already gotten a camel."

Lydia also watched with interest at the Xer'sai, it's eyeless head agape with rows of serrated teeth, its exoskeleton glinting in the sunlight, the ooze seeping out between the plates of its exoskeleton.

"_That's_ a baby?" she said, eyeing the Xer'sai, that looked as if it was at least ten feet long. "How big does an adult get?"

"Who knows?" Sivir said. "I hear they don't have a limit. Typical characteristic of Void creatures, they say. Voracious eaters, all of them. Xer'sai would even eat their own kind. This one probably got pushed back to this wasteland because of the competition. I bet it was barely managing when it sensed us."

Ezreal, who was busy sketching the Xer'sai in his journal, suddenly looked up, looking sheepish. "I guess I didn't consider that," he said. "My bad."

Sivir shook her head. "I had decided to switch paths, so it was not your fault. Besides, we have done remarkably well, all things considered. Consider it a boon that we only lost a camel."

"So what do we do?" Lydia asked. "Should we head out of the wasteland?"

Sivir stared at the Xer'sai for a bit, mulling over their options. "No," she decided. "Heading out would almost certainly delay us and allow the Kthaon to catch us. We only have about a couple day's journey at the most if we keep heading straight. We'll just have to hope that we do not encounter any more Xer'sai." She turned to her group. "Dispose of the camel and Xer'sai," she ordered. "Try to place it in the opposite direction we are going so as to lead off any other possible Xer'sai. As for the luggage, we'll have to distribute it amongst our remaining camels." The mercenaries nodded and picked up both the dead camel and Xer'sai, Ezreal and Lydia watching.

"Well," Ezreal said at last. "That was exhilarating. Good thing it didn't go for one of our camels, huh? I don't think I would have been able to react fast enough if it did."

Lydia nodded dumbly. "Are all creatures in Runeterra like this?" she asked.

"Ehhh…." Ezreal said. "I guess the majority of creatures happen to actually be quite boring, honestly. I think it's just an adventurer's luck that we end up with the scary hostile ones. Now come on, I want to see how they're going to use the dead animals as bait." And with that Ezreal was off, leaving Lydia with a queasy feeling in her stomach.

The mood among the mercenaries that night was merry. Despite most of them never actually ever encountering a Xer'sai, they had managed to take one down rather efficiently. Many were now relegating tales of how the Xer'sai had nearly bit their faces off, or how it claws nearly cut their arms off had their quick reflexes saved them from such a tragedy. Kaveh appeared to merely enjoy the boisterous, if exaggerated, stories as he laughed heartily at the tales. Shishkah, on the other hand, sullenly sat in Kaveh's shadow as she cleaned her arsenal of javelins and spears, not interested in the slightest about who bested who, even when it came to claims of whose spear landed the killing blow.

Lydia, meanwhile, was working on her sparring and magic training. That was twice now when she was unable to respond to the situation, and she wanted to be sure to be able to respond next time. Ezreal was back to mentoring her on magic, but, as Lydia expected, his tips were useless, and she ended up with several burnt out candles, an exasperated Ezreal, and an ill temper.

"There's no need to worry so much," Ezreal said. "You saw how well they handled that Xer'sai. And like Sivir said, we only have a couple day's journey at the most, then we'll be crossing and head on to Piltover! You'll love it there, I'm sure. At the very least, we don't have Xer'sai."

"I guess," Lydia said. "I don't know. I just feel pretty useless."

"Oh, come on, most normal people can't handle situations like that," Ezreal said. "The fact that you're being so level-headed is already a huge plus. I've met tougher-looking people than you that would already be blubbering."

"Does that include you?" Lydia said.

"Ha ha, very funny. No, most people actually do not think I'm tough looking, despite my obvious abilities. I think they're just jealous."

"Well, you do reek of pretty boy aura."

"I do not!"

"Yes, yes, Mr. Prodigal Explorer." Lydia stared up at the sky, admiring the stars. As a city girl, she never got to see so many stars at once. She wondered what kind of constellations people in Runeterra had.

"Hey Ez?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you really think we'll find anything in Piltover?"

"I'm almost sure of it. Those professors at the Academy may be dreary, but if there's one thing they're good at, it's remembering obscure information that usually never pertains to everyday life."

It was then Shiskah came over and nudged Ezreal. "Your turn for watch," she said simply. Ezreal got up.

"We'll talk about this later," he said. "Either way, we'll figure something out, ok?" He gave a thumbs up before heading off.

It was in the afternoon when they spotted some of Sivir's mercenaries coming towards them. They had gone to check to see if any Xer'sai had gone after the dead camel and Xer'sai. As the caravan slowed down to let others join them, the mercenaries hurried forth, panting heavily.

"We must hurry," one of them said, looking back fearfully.

"What happened?" Sivir asked.

"The camel and Xer'sai are gone," another said. "And we spotted tunnels. This one is huge."

"But it should be slowed down, right?" Sivir said. "It took the bait. It may even be going the opposite direction as we speak."

"You don't understand," the first one said. "The tunnels were HUGE. And not just that…we could see the Xer'sai tunneling."

"So it's close?" Sivir said sharply.

"No, not necessarily. It's still a ways. But the size…with how huge it is, it may be able to catch up to us in a day, maybe even sooner."

Sivir turned to one of her mages. "You've been scouting ahead with your magic, right?" she said. "Any spots that might shelter us from a Xer'sai?"

"There is a cave that is about half a day journey away," the person replied. "It will be a tight fit, but it should hold all of us, and it's only a slight detour."

"Perfect," Sivir said. "We'll camp out there and wait for the Xer'sai to pass, then continue on with our journey. Now come on, let's hurry." And with that, the caravan began moving.

"Will a cave really help us against a Xer'sai?" Ezreal called out.

Sivir, without turning back, replied. "Xer'sai are sand-burrowing creatures, not rocks," she said. "From what I hear, most Xer'sai can't tunnel through rock. All we got to do is stay still. If the Xer'sai is as big and fast as they say, it'll be far away the next day, and we can continue." Her tone was light, but Lydia noticed Sivir's hand was gripping tightly to the reins, her knuckles almost turning white, and her brow was furrowed slightly. She was worried, Lydia was sure.

Lydia looked uneasily in the direction of the supposed Xer'sai, wondering if things would go as planned.

The sun was starting to set by the time they reached the cave, with Sivir hurriedly ushering them inside.

"In the center," she told Lydia and Ezreal. "Like I said before, if things go well, the Xer'sai should just pass us, but if things go wrong, be sure to move as little as possible until we find an opportunity to run."

The group huddled together, scared to even breathe. A camel brayed.

They heard the sound before they felt the rumbling. A guttural clicking sound resounded out through the landscape, followed with the ground rrumbling.

Nobody moved. The sound petered out, but resounded once again, louder this time. The rumbling was getting stronger too. Some of the canteens were starting to clank together because of the vibrations, muffled quickly as the group would stuff cloth in between them.

The clicking suddenly stopped, as did the rumbling. Everyone froze. The clicking sound came back, but oddly enough, there was no rumbling.

"Why did the rumbling stop?" Lydia whispered, barely moving her mouth.

"I think – I think it's close," Ezreal muttered back, poised and ready to shoot a blast from his gauntlet at any moment.

The clicking kept going on. One minute. Two minutes. Three minutes. The clicking continued, making Lydia almost wondering if the clicking was actually in her head. No one moved.

A camel suddenly brayed, startling Lydia. It appeared to have been shaken by the whole clicking, and broke free of the people holding it down, it began running towards the mouth of the cave.

A piercing shriek reverberated within the cave walls, and Lydia felt a massive jolt under the ground, knocking her down. She heard an odd screeching sound.

The camel was now out of the cave, and it brayed again. The screeching sound continued, apparently frightening the camel as it sped away.

Suddenly, near the edge of the cave, the ground exploded, bits of rocks flying towards them. The mages barely had time to erect a shield to block them from the shrapnel. Lydia, however, was less concerned about the shrapnel, instead looking in horror at the sight in front of her. Out of the explosion, she saw an enormous blur leap out, in the direction of the camel.

The camel was snapped up into the maw of the thing that had burrowed out. With barely a gulp, the camel went down the creature's throat. She wasn't even sure if the camel had realized it's death before it got gulped up.

Sivir wasn't kidding when she said the Xer'sai they encountered was just a baby. It was like comparing a kitten to a full-grown lion. The centipede-like legs were far more numerous than the baby, and it's front legs, claws jutting out them, were bigger than the camel it just ate. The Xer'sai turned back, facing the group, revealing its eyeless face, two long teeth jutting out from below. It made the clicking noise, moving its head slowly as it sniffed the air, the exoskeleton crackling with purple energy.

Lydia could feel the hairs on her arm rise. The Xer'sai shrieked, making its way to them. She saw some of the group nock their arrows, Sivir with her crossblade out, and Ezreal with his gauntlet raised. She too raised her dagger, though what good it would do she didn't know. It couldn't even qualify as a toothpick against this Xer'sai.

She somehow knew, despite the fact that nobody told her, that she had never seen this creature, exactly who it was.

It was Rek'sai.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Rek'sai sniffed the air, while Lydia and the rest froze, unsure of what to do. Attacking Rek'sai was tantamount to suicide. And while the camel definitely brought the attention of Rek'sai, she may have not sensed the group. Not to mention the fact that their exit was blocked off by Rek'sai, they couldn't even try to make a dash for it, not that it seemed like it would help.

Rek'sai trudged further in, making the clacking sounds. Was she trying to locate us using those sounds? Lydia thought. She knew bats could locate objects and creatures with echolocation, Rek'sai might be similar. Lydia hoped Rek'sai could not tell the difference between rocks and a human-shaped object.

"Stay still," Sivir said, her mouth barely moving. "I swear if another camel is let loose and reveals us, I will murder you before Rek'sai murders us."

"I thought you said Xer'sai's can't tunnel through rock," Ezreal muttered, eyeing the hole in the cave floor that Rek'sai had leapt out of.

"I said most Xer'sai, not all!" Sivir hissed. "Now shut up! She's getting close!"

Rek'sai was about ten feet away now, and the distance was shortening. She made the clacking sound again, her face leaning dangerously close to the group. She kept on clacking as she slowly swept her face from one side to another. Kaveh managed to stay perfectly still, so much so Lydia would have thought he was a statue, and Shishkah, with her usual languid self, managed to go unnoticed by Rek'sai. Sivir stiffened as Rek'sai passed by her, her hand gripping tightly on the crossblade, but also seemed to have gone under Rek'sai's radar.

Lydia felt a lump in her throat when Rek'sai reached her, the clacking sound deafening. She could feel the hot breath of Rek'sai, reeking of flesh, a whiff of iron in her breath. Lydia thought of the poor camel and wanted to heave.

Rek'sai sniffed, but then continued finally to Ezreal, who surprisingly was rather still, his face pale. Maybe he was frozen in shock? Lydia might have found it funny in less dire circumstances.

Rek'sai gave an odd clacking sound that sounded very much like a snort, and turned around, heading toward the tunnel. The relief was palpable. Sivir's grip was loosening, Kaveh was grinning, and even Shiskah seemed to be less grumpy. They had done it. They only needed to wait a bit and let Rek'sai go her own way before dashing as fast as they could away from this wasteland.

So relieved they were, nobody noticed when a chunk of rock from the cave ceiling got loose and began falling straight toward Kaveh, Ezreal noticing only moments before.

"Kaveh! Up above!" Ezreal whispered fiercely. Kaveh looked up, surprised, but nimbly stepped aside. Out of the corner of her eye, Lydia saw that Rek'sai had paused, as if sensing something. It must have been Kaveh's movement that alerted her. But he might be fine as long as nothing else alerted her…

Lydia jaw opened with horror. "Get away everyone!" she shouted, startling everyone. "The rock's going to-"

The rock hit the ground and made a loud clattering sound. Barely a second passed when there was a blur of purple, dark purple energy crackling from it, slashing at the source of the sound. Kaveh was already moving thanks to Lydia's warning, and the claws only grazed him. Still, he was sent flying, hitting the cave wall, deep lacerations across his chest.

Sivir swore, but quickly threw her crossblade at Rek'sai. It bounced off the exoskeleton, bouncing back and forth between the cave walls and Rek'sai. It didn't seem to do much damage, but it at least got the attention of Rek'sai.

"No choice guys!" Sivir yelled. "We're going to have to fight Rek'sai if we want any chance of making out of this alive! Shishkah, you go after Kaveh and see if he's ok! Ez, you're nimble. Help me distract Rek'sai while Lydia and the other try to get the camels outside the cave. No point in it anymore, we might as well use the open quarters to our advantage."

Ezreal opened his mouth as if to protest, but then shut it and nodded. The others were already urging the camels along, who were braying loudly, as they tried to coax them past Rek'sai and the hole, Lydia following.

Despite their clashes, Ezreal and Sivir were working together surprisingly well. Sivir would expertly throw her crossblade as it ricochet around the cave walls and hitting Rek'sai several times. While it wasn't entirely clear if it was actually doing any damage, it definitely seemed to at least aggravate Rek'sai as she shrieked and would make her way to Sivir, only to find herself getting hit by bolts of energy by Ezreal. Annoyed, Rek'sai would dash over and swat at Ezreal, only to find he was gone as he blinked away. The confused Rek'sai would clack around, but would then get hit once more by Sivir, and the cycle would repeat. Lydia was impressed at how well they were faring.

Shiskah was the last one to come out of the cave, Kaveh hoisted over her shoulder.

"How is he?" Lydia asked. Shiskah looked practically livid.

"Not too well," she muttered. "He hit his head pretty hard, and then there's the cuts. He's been bleeding quite a bit, which is dangerous. If this continues, he might die." She trudged towards the camel, rifling through her bag, before procuring a bottle full of red liquid. She uncorked it and opened Kaveh's mouth as she drained the liquid down his throat. "If only we had mages that knew healing magic," she said, her voice bitter. "Hopefully this will be enough."

Suddenly the cave exploded, bits of rocks flying in all sorts of directions. Lydia strained her eyes, trying to find Sivir and Ezreal. To her relief, she saw them as they ran towards the caravan, Ezreal holding onto Sivir as he would blink. She saw a strange dark shadow speeding through the ground towards at Sivir and Ezreal.

"Brace for impact, pretty boy!" Sivir yelled as she pulled up her spell shield. Ezreal did not look as if he even had the willpower to respond. The shadow connected with Sivir's spell shield, and a loud boom echoed throughout the desert, and she saw that Ezreal and Sivir was sent flying, landing near Lydia and Shiskah.

"So much for your spell shield," Ezreal said as coughed. Sivir glared at him.

"If it wasn't for my spell shield, we would be in pieces right now," she said coldly. "There is little I can do about recoil."

"Yeah, sure," Ezreal said. He got up and began dusting himself off. "Well, you should have mentioned that Xer'sai can shoot projectiles!"

"That's because not even I knew that!" Sivir snapped. "Otherwise I would have had a very different plan!"

"Uh, guy?" Lydia said. "Isn't that Rek'sai heading towards us?"

As they followed in her direction, everyone could see a huge purple fin sticking out of the sand, reminding Lydia very much of a shark, hurtling towards them.

"Stick close to me!" Sivir said sharply. Without question, everybody huddled together, Shiskah hoisting Kaveh over.

The ground below them fell apart as Rek'sai, shrieking, came zooming out, but Sivir had already set up her shield again, and Rek'sai was unable to tear into them. The impact did send them flying back, though, and Lydia got a face full of sand and could feel it scratching against her face as she landed.

"Seriously, how is she still ok after those hits!?" Ezreal said, his hair grimy and very mussled.

"She is not considered the queen of the Xer'sai for nothing," Sivir said. "I am not even sure if our firepower is enough to even scratch her."

"Agh, dammit!" Ezreal said. He pulled the goggles on his head over his eyes. "Now I'm angry! Hey Sivir, how much longer do you think you can distract Rek'sai?"

Sivir looked surprised. "It will be harder now, but with the others, I can probably buy a few minutes," she said. "What do you intend to do?"

"My strongest attack," Ezreal said, all sense of joviality gone. "I don't like using it because it takes a while and leave me open, but at this point, if I don't try, we might not be leaving this place. Just trust me."

"That's the spirit, boy," a voice boomed. Everybody turned in surprise. Kaveh was standing up, coughing up blood as he did so, but he grinned weakly.

"You shouldn't be up," Shiskah said flatly.

"I have to help," he said. He looked at Ezreal. "Are you sure it can even damage Rek'sai?" Ezreal hesitated, but then nodded.

"I see," Kaveh said. "In that case, I will buy you the time you need." He pulled out his sword.

"Kaveh, you're in no condition to be fighting," Sivir said.

"Sivir, you're not fun," Kaveh said. "This is why I became a mercenary! For the adventure! For the close calls! What better situation than now to triumph the odd!" But even as he said that, he looked a little green, and his breath was uneven.

"Kaveh, there's being brave, and then there's stupidity," Sivir said sharply. "Don't go dying for a cause just because-"

"I'm already dying, Sivir," Kaveh interrupted. Everybody got quiet. "I can feel it, even right now. So if I'm going to die, I'd rather die fighting than lying down as a fool."

Sivir opened her mouth, but then shut it. "Do as you wish," she said shortly. "It is no concern of mine's." She turned to Ezreal. "And you," she said. "You better be sure this attack of yours will kill Rek'sai." And with that, she was off, yelling orders to the group, telling some to secure the camels and bringing along a few to go after Rek'sai.

Kaveh patted Lydia on the head. "You keep a lookout for Ezreal, ok?" he said. With a roar, he charged.

Lydia watched as they attacked Rek'sai. She was, once again, useless. She checked on Ezreal, who now had his palms facing upwards, his eyes scrunched up, light gathering to his hands.

"Not enough," he murmured. "I used too much mana before…"

"But they're depending on you!" Lydia said.

"Calm down!" Ezreal said. "Just get me a mana potion. The blue bottle. That should hopefully be enough to let me use it."

Lydia scrambled towards the camel, tearing out items from the bag, finally finding a couple of blue bottles. She rushed towards Ezreal.

"Great," he said. "Um, could you pour it down my throat? My hand's are kinda of occupied…"

"Seriously!?" Lydia said, as she hurriedly unscrewed the bottles, as she poured them into Ezreal's mouth. He gagged slightly, before coughing.

"That was too quick! You're trying to kill me!?" he said.

"Just hurry up with that damn magic!" Lydia snapped.

The mana potions did seem to have a significant effect, as more light was gathering at a quicker pace, almost blinding Lydia. It was huge, at least three times the size of Ezreal, and it was still growing.

"There," Ezreal said, panting. "I got it. Now, if we could just get Rek'sai close to make sure I don't miss, that'd be great. It's a bit hard aiming this."

Lydia looked over to see the situation.

Sivir, along with Kaveh and a few others, were still fighting valiantly against Rek'sai. She saw a few mangled corpses, and she shuddered. Shishkah was busy throwing her javelins, managing to land a few under the chinks, but they looked like toothpicks and barely slowed Rek'sai. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to let them know of Ezreal's situation.

She took a deep breath, steeling her nerves, then yelled as loud as she could. Stamping her feet as she did so. "Hey, you stupid centipede!" she called out. "I'm right over here!"

"Lydia!?" Ezreal said, his eyes widening. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing her here, of course," Lydia snapped, her eyes focused on Rek'sai, who was still focused on Sivir and the rest. She needed more to attract Rek'sai. She began running towards Rek'sai, picking up a couple of rocks from the now shattered cave as she did so.

Once she was close, she began pelting Rek'sai with rocks. "Come here, land shark!" she yelled.

"Lydia? What happened with Ezreal?" Sivir asked, but Lydia ignored her as she continued throwing rocks at Rek'sai.

Rek'sai shrieked, pausing to find the source. As she did so, Lydia pulled out her dagger and, gritting her teeth, cut the palm of her hands, a stinging pain as blood flowed out. Rek'sai sniffed, smelling the fresh blood, then shrieked, charging towards Lydia.

Lydia was already dashing back towards where Ezreal was. From what she could tell, she didn't have to be in front of Ezreal, just in his direction. As long as she gave a clear view for him, it should work.

She glanced back, and saw the telltale fin shape. She grimaced. She needed Rek'sai to be out of the ground. She pumped her legs as she ran towards Ezreal, but tripped.

She felt the ground rumble, and rolled away, barely managing to escape as Rek'sai burst forth, shrieking. Lydia lay there, not moving a muscle.

Rek'sai, confused at having missed her target, sniffed the air. While she could no longer "see" the target, she could certainly smell them, their scent of blood lingering around them. She made clacking sounds, and there was indeed an object that was most likely the meal she was chasing. She walked toward it, prepared to gulp it down, and then…

A bright flash of life pierced through Rek'sai. Lydia watched as the light caught Rek'sai at the mouth, and she shrieked, green blood dripping down. A couple landed on Lydia and she yelped as it ate away at her skin. Rek'sai writhed around, shrieking. The light had already passed through Rek'sai, with no intention of stopping. As she watched, she saw it cut straight through a dune, and then another one, fading away into the distance, looking as if it would never stop.

Rek'sai had stopped shrieking, and slowly, she slumped forward, jaw open. Lydia stared numbly at the still Xer'sai.

"I guess you weren't kidding about that spell!" Sivir yelled out to Ezreal, who was now on his knees, looking pale and about to vomit. He smiled weakly. She and the others were now walking towards them, looking in awe at the Xer'sai.

"Well, guys, I think we just killed Rek'sai," Sivir said smiling. "Which means there's no Xer'sai we can't handle. I figure if we hurry, we can manage to get out of here in a day-"

But as she said that, a shriek interrupted her. Then, as they watched, Rek'sai stood up, and shrieked once more, right in front of Lydia. Ezreal was powerless, Sivir was at her limit, and as Lydia stared at the creature that was still standing despite being hit by Ezreal's most powerful spell, Lydia came to one conclusion.

They were truly not going to be able to leave this wasteland alive.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Rek'sai shrieked once more, then began sniffing the air. No doubt she was trying to locate the group. Lydia was aware that distance-wise, she was the closest to Rek'sai. Though she was hot, she felt a cold sweat trickle down on her back. Rek'sai sniffed again, then let out another shriek that sounded different, almost as if she was… frustrated? It was then that Lydia noticed that Rek'sai had blood smeared all over her head, some even dripping out of her mouth, the sand sizzling as the blood hit the ground. All that blood over her must have been messing with her sense of smell. Rek'sai cautiously stepped forward, making a clacking sound as she did so, getting ever so closer to Lydia.

"Lydia, you got to move," Ezreal hissed. He was now propped on one knee, but was still in no condition to do much of anything.

"Yeah, I realize that," Lydia hissed back. She slowly, ever so slowly, stood up, doing her best not to create any sudden movements. She winced a little as she felt a flash of pain rush through her left leg. It seemed like she might have sprained it when she fell down before. But she couldn't afford to linger on it right now, not when she was this close to being killed.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself. She thought back to what Jaheje had taught her about silent-stepping, stripping her shoes off, and then began to move. Her leg screamed in protest, but she gritted her teeth and kept moving forward, not allowing her leg to buckle under pressure, counting in her head to distract her from the pain. _One, two, one, two_, she chanted to herself.

Amazingly, it seemed all that time she spent silent-stepping was paying off. Rek'sai was still poking her head around, clicking away. At the very least, Rek'sai was not heading in the direction of Ezreal, who seemed at the moment in no condition to be able to move.

Lydia could make out Sivir motion at her, beckoning Lydia to come over to their group, about a hundred feet away. Lydia grimaced at the distance, not sure how much longer she could keep this up. Silent-stepping was hard enough as it is, even more so when one's leg was hurting. But having Sivir's group move to her was even riskier. She just needed to hold out a bit longer, regroup and strategize their next move.

Lydia kept moving, the sand biting into her feet, careful to avoid the green blood scattered about the sand, focusing on placing her feet one at a time.

She was about forty feet away when a shriek broke her concentration, and the pain she was ignoring shot up. She yelped and fell to the ground, clutching her leg, which was already swelling up.

Too late, she realized her mistake.

The clacking sound that Rek'sai was making had suddenly stopped. Lydia turned to the direction where Rek'sai was. To her horror, she found that Rek'sai head was now in the direction of Lydia.

Rek'sai let out a shriek once more and began to burrow underground. Despite her huge size, she managed to submerge underground in a matter of seconds, her huge claws up front acting as huge shovels.

Lydia could still see the top of Rek'sai's exoskeleton peeking out from the sand. It really did give the impression of a land shark. Well, if the land shark had claws and was centipede-like in nature, of course. She watched as the fin traveled towards her, already expecting Rek'sai to pop up any second now.

She did, pummeling out of the dirt as she let loose a savage cry, her claws outstretched as she leapt towards Lydia.

Barely a second later, a javelin hit Rek'sai at the side, and a loud boom resounded, causing Rek'sai to lurch to the side while the shockwave sent Lydia flying back. She landed heavily, and the pain she was already experiencing in her leg was now excruciating. If it wasn't sprained before, it definitely was now. It might even be broken. But she was still alive, at least. In the distance, Lydia could see Shiskah already picking up another javelin while a couple other people were gathered around her, as if they were chanting something.

Rek'sai growled, but then another javelin hurtled toward her and lodged cleanly into a chink of Rek'sai's exoskeleton. Looking closely, Lydia could now see that the javelin was glowing unusually. Feeling a sense of dread, Lydia scrabbled back, pulling herself with her arms to get as far away as she could from Rek'sai. Another explosion occurred, this time causing Rek'sai to land flat onto the ground.

Yet Rek'sai still was undeterred. Already Rek'sai was standing up, seeming more annoyed than hurt. Lydia saw no way out of this. The idea of trying to attack Rek'sai with her dagger was suicidal enough even before she was hurt, and she had no magic abilities. She thought bitterly of all those days she spent on those stupid candles trying to do something, anything, to those damn things. She couldn't help but feel a flash of anger. It was easy, he said. You should be able to figure out, he said. When she died, she would be sure to give him the worst-

Suddenly, she felt an odd twinge in her stomach. It didn't hurt, but it felt… scary. The feeling got bigger, and Lydia's body felt like it was burning up, her stomach a vortex. Is this how one died?

Then, right in front of her eyes, Rek'sai burst into flames.

It was odd, so much so that it took Lydia a moment to process what was happening. For one thing, the flames looked as if it was on the inside of Rek'sai, the flames peeking out between the gapes of the exoskeleton, smoke billowing out and leaving the scent of charred flesh. Not only that, the fire seemed to genuinely bother Rek'sai, as she clawed at her face, letting out a pained cry, dropping onto the ground and writhing around. Her tail nearly clocked Lydia, who then kept backing as much as she could to avoid getting hit. She felt even more sluggish than usual, her arms feeling like lead.

Rek'sai bellowed, letting out a cloud of smoke as she did so, and began banging against the sand, most likely trying to extinguish the fire, but to no avail, as the fire kept consistently burning. Then with a shriek, Rek'sai burrowed underground, the ground shaking violently. Within less than a minute, the tremors stopped, leaving nothing but a gaping hole, crackling with an unusual purple energy, behind.

No one moved for several minutes, unsure of what happened to Rek'sai. However, once it was clear that Rek'sai had no intention of leaping out of the sand, Sivir rushed over to Lydia.

"You guys, check up on Ezreal," she ordered some people of her group. "And tend to the others as quickly as you can. We have no idea how long of a break we have before Rek'sai decides to come back for us." She turned her attention to Lydia.

"Well, damn, Lydia," Sivir said, a hint of a smile on her face. "Next time, just use that from the start."

"Well," Sivir remarked. "Still can't believe you were holding out on us before. What was that spell?" Lydia was currently lying down on top of a blanket as she was being treated by Sivir and the others, some forcing vials down her throat while others tried to treat her injuries, muttering spells.

Lydia didn't respond. She was tired, and she quite frankly, she had no idea. What did she do? She had no idea if she could even do that same thing again if need be.

Sivir, at the very least, seemed to respect her silence. "It's fine," she said. "You must be tired. Is your leg okay? You seemed like you were limping a bit back there."

Sivir expertly checked Lydia's vitals and legs, determining that Lydia had indeed broken her leg.

"Nothing too serious, all thing considered, but I don't think you'll be silent-stepping any time soon," she said. "Or any other strenuous activities for a few months, for that matter."

"How are the others?" Lydia asked.

Sivir's expression stayed the same, but her eyes had clouded slightly. "We lost a few," she said casually. "Many were injured. Quite a few camels were sacrificed as decoys as well, though we should still be able to manage with our supplies."

"Is Ezreal fine?"

"He's ok. He's showing symptoms of magic overuse, but nothing rest and a good diet won't fix over time. He has very little physical injuries. If there's one thing he's good at, it's dodging things with that teleportation skill of his."

Lydia hesitated for a second before asking her next question. "And what about Kaveh?"

"He's… still alive," Sivir said. "He has a fever, and his wounds are bad, but at the moment, he still breathes." She paused for a minute. "Though we are not sure how much longer he will last."

It felt as if her heart had frozen over, her stomach knotting itself in worry and dread. "I would like to see him now," Lydia said stiffly, propping herself up.

"You shouldn't," Sivir said. "Even though you're doing better than most, you still got that leg and probably a concussion. Moving around is a pretty bad idea."

"I would like to see him," Lydia repeated. Sivir looked as if she was about to give a retort, but thought better of it and simply shrugged. "Fine then," she said. She stood up. "I'll show you where he is. " She pulled out a bottle of red liquid. "At least drink this before you go. It should heal you up a bit and dull the pain."

Lydia eyed it suspiciously, never having seen medicine look so red, but then remembered this wasn't her world. Medicine probably looked this way. It kind of reminded her of health potions too. She drank the bottle, and sure enough, a fuzzy feeling enveloped her, leaving her slightly light-headed.

Sivir supported Lydia as she hobbled along. As Lydia followed along, she noted the casualties were heavily downplayed. Many were on cots, some even missing limbs or heavily mauled. The ones that were relatively okay scrambled about without pause, tending to the others as they shouted orders and reports. As she observed all this, someone rushed toward them.

"Sivir, Ezreal has been trying to leave the infirmary despite our orders," the man panted.

"I told you, I'm fine!" a voice called out from inside a tent. A moment later, Ezreal stepped out. "A little magic overuse never hurt anybody." He coughed as he said this. Despite his claim, his face was pale, and had an almost grayish tinge to it.

Sivir just rolled her eyes. "Leave him be," she said. "Besides, I have a feeling Ez also wants to come along to see Kaveh."

"Kaveh?" Ezreal said. "How is he? Everybody I asked was too focused stuffing me with mana potions and ointments."

"You'll see for yourself," Sivir replied. "Come with us."

Ezreal frowned, seeming displeased at being ordered, but obediently followed, occasionally making retching sounds and coughing.

They arrived at a small tent. The man guarding it nodded at them respectfully and let them inside.

They found that Shishkah was already there, kneeling by the side of Kaveh, her face betraying no emotion. Lydia was about to greet her, but it died in her throat as she looked at Kaveh.

Kaveh was heavily bandaged, a stump where his left arm once was. His face was heavily mauled, beyond the point of recognition. Despite the scent of potions and vials, she could still catch the scent of burnt, rotting flesh. He took shaky, raspy breaths, sounding as if every breath hurt.

"K-Kaveh?" she said, unsure if he was even able to see her.

"Lydia?" he wheezed. "Is that you?"

"Yes, it's me," Lydia said. "What… how…" her voice trailed off, at a loss of what to say.

Kaveh laughed, though it sounded hollow and frail compared to his usual boisterous laugh. "Come closer," he joked. "My ears aren't what it used to be."

Lydia carefully sat herself down next to Shiskah, careful to not stress out her broken leg. Ezreal just stood there, his face surprisingly stoic in the midst of all of this.

"You look like crap, man," Ezreal said. Kaveh chuckled at that.

"Well, I've definitely seen better days," Kaveh replied. He coughed, his whole body shaking as he did so. "Sivir is here, I assume?"

"That I am," Sivir replied, stepping forward. "I have to admit, you never cease to amaze me with your cheerfulness."

"I believe it was my positive outlook that convinced you to let me join your group," he replied. His tone still light and casual, he asked, "So Sivir, how much longer do you have left to live?"

Sivir's jaw tightened. She sighed, her shoulders slumping slightly as she did so.

"We're not sure," she admitted. "Frankly, it's a miracle you're alive right now."

Kaveh nodded slowly. "In that case, it's a good thing you guys are here now," he said. "Lydia, Ezreal? Would you mind doing a favor for me?"

"Sure, we can do a favor for you," Lydia said, looking back at Ezreal, who nodded in agreement. "What is it?"

"Seeing as you guys are travelers, I'm assuming you'll pass by Demacia someday. When you do, could you find a man by the name of Rastlin Stormhawk? Send him a message. Tell him about my death, and how his big brother is sorry he never was able to return."

"Of course, we'll be sure to do that," Lydia said, clasping his hand reassuredly.

"Shishkah," Kaveh said. "I never had children, but I always thought of you as a daughter. I just pray that one day, the spears you throw will have more meaning to you than coin."

"The same goes for you, Sivir. I sense the same drive I had when I was your age. There is more to life than just money. You are a person destined for greatness, I can feel it. I just hope when that time comes, you are also filled with goodness as well."

Kaveh tilted his head, slightly. "I wish you all the best." He sunk his head back. "I am tired," he muttered. "I must rest." His breathing grew quiet and soon he was sleeping.

"Well, I suppose we should take our leave," Sivir said, seeming unfazed by the whole situation. "Especially you two. Coming here was already pushing it too far. Are you coming, Shishkah?"

"I'll stay here," Shishkah replied, her eyes never straying from Kaveh. Sivir nodded, then proceeded to grab Lydia and Ezreal by the collar and began dragging both of them away.

"I told you, I'm fine!" Ezreal protested.

"Surely we should stay a little longer!" Lydia insisted.

"No can do," Sivir said. "Though that little fire trick of yours definitely helped, there's no guarantee on what happened to Rek'sai. She could come back to attack us with vengeance at the pain and suffering we gave her. We need to get out of here before we truly become fodder for Rek'sai. And that means…" she shoved Ezreal back in the tent he was in. "…that we get everyone fixed up as soon as possible. Besides, no way I'm losing my customer before I get paid in full."

"I think you're treating said customer rather rudel-" Ezreall never got to finish the sentence as several people pulled hidoem in, ignoring his protests.

"That goes for you too," Sivir said to Lydia. "You're not looking too good right now. You should rest."

"I'm fine," Lydia said. "I want to stay and help."

"You'll just get in the way," Sivir replied. "Besides, not like you'll have much choice anyways."

"What do you mean?" Lydia said.

"The potion I gave you definitely speeds up the healing process, but has the side effect of leaving the person super drowsy. It's one of those potions that's not good while in combat. When we're resting however…"

"You tricked me?" Lydia said. Even as she spoke she became conscious of how hard it was think, and how her words seem to be slurring, her eyelids feeling like lead.

"Aw, no hard feelings here," Sivir replied. "It's for the best. Trust me, we won't rob you guys or anything like that. I'm a mercenary, not a thief, you know."

Lydia could barely process the words right now, leaning heavily into Sivir.

"Well, until next time, Lydia," she made out before her eyes shut, the world turning dark.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

Lydia woke with a face full of camel hair and a very sore neck. She tried to sit up, only to find she couldn't. She turned her neck to the side and saw another camel, Ezreal tied up to it, drool dribbling down his cheek, occasionally snorting and sniffling as the camel hairs brushed his nose.

"What the-" Lydia began, but was met with a mouthful of hair that she began gagging on.

"Oh, you're awake now." A mischievous voice rang out. Lydia did not need to see to know it was Sivir. "I was starting to wonder when you would wake up."

"Untie me off this damn camel," Lydia snapped. A few moments later, she felt the restraints loosen, and she sat up, rubbing her wrists.

"You shouldn't move around too much," Sivir advised. "Turns out you had it worse than we initially expected. Besides your fractured leg, you got a few broken ribs, a slight concussion and signs of magic overuse."

"Well, nice to know this is how you treat the infirm," Lydia grumbled.

Sivir shrugged. "It couldn't be helped," she said. "Even after a whole day you still wouldn't wake up, and what with Rek'sai lurking about, we couldn't risk staying any longer. So we did all we could to transport the injured the best we could. We had to leave behind some supplies to make do."

Suddenly Lydia remembered Kaveh. "How's Kaveh?" she asked, dread creeping in.

"He died," Sivir said simply, almost as if Lydia had asked about the weather. "We buried him and the others near that cave we had initially hid from Rek'sai."

"Oh," Lydia said, a lump in her throat. "I see." Despite knowing the chances, a small part of her had still hoped that against all odds, Kaveh would have overcame his injuries. "How's Shiskah?"

"She's been normal… Well, she's been rather quiet, but she's always been like that. She only ever really talked because Kaveh would pester her."

Lydia averted her eyes, not sure what to say. Silence descended upon them. Lydia eyes roamed about, resting once more on the still sleeping Ezreal. "Has he been sleeping the whole time as well?"

"Oh, yeah, he has," Sivir said, smiling slightly. "Apparently they needed to give him a pretty strong sedative since he was so resistant in getting rest. Knocked him out this whole time. I kind of forgot about this peace and quiet." She laughed lightly. "Anyways, I'm going to check on the rear guard to see if we're being chased by anyone, human or otherwise." And with that, she was off.

Ezreal woke up a couple of hours later, irritable and very confused about why he was propped onto a camel. After complaining extensively on how he could have suffocated on camel hair (which, he emphasized, would be an extremely silly way to die for a renowned explorer like him), he sobered up after hearing the news about Kaveh.

"Have you talked to Shiskah yet?" he asked, after Lydia finished relaying the news.

"No, not yet. She's in the front, and it's kind of hard to reach her in my current state. Besides… I don't know what to say," Lydia said.

"Yeah," Ezreal said heavily. "Losing a companion is never a simple matter to broach." He squinted his eyes as he tried to make out Shiskah at the front of the caravan. "I never did figure out what exactly was the deal between the two. Was Shiskah his daughter or something?"

"I don't know. I just assumed they came from the same village or whatever," Lydia replied. She sighed. "Kaveh made it so much easier to approach her…"

"I'm sure an opportunity will come up," Ezreal said.

The opportunity did come up. The group, upon finding out the two of them had woken up, immediately assigned them to watch duty, since according to them, the two of them had slept enough. As Ezreal grumbling about how customers didn't need to do work, the two of them trudged up to their post and were surprised to find someone already there. It was Shiskah, sitting crosslegged, her spear jutted into the ground.

Lydia and Ezreal glanced at each other, then both nodded. Lydia strode towards Shiskah and sat down on her left, Ezreal on her right.

Shiskah barely nodded to acknowledge their presence, as she continued to scan the area. An awkward silence descended. Lydia leaned back, gesturing to Ezreal and mouthing "Say something!" while Ezreal was frantically gesturing her to do the same.

Ezreal finally gave up, and scratching his head, he said, "So, uh, Shiskah… I don't think you were on watch duty at all in the first place. What are you doing here?"

"I did not feel sleepy," Shiskah replied, her eyes never straying. "So I decided I may as well assist with watch duty."

"Ah," Ezreal said, nodding. "Well, that's nice of you."

"It increases our chance of survival. I would like to survive," Shiskah said.

"Oh…," Ezreal said, his voice trailing off. "Er… nice weather we're having, huh?"

Shiskah frowned, as she finally stopped scanning the surroundings as she stared at Ezreal. "It is certainly not the worst, but I would hardly call this nice weather," she said. "It gets quite chilly at night."

"True…but this is nothing compared to some places I've been!" Ezreal said. "Once, I got stuck in a blizzard when I was exploring in the Frejlord, and I almost froze my-"

"I do not much care for your adventures," Shiskah interrupted flatly, as she went back to scanning their surroundings, leaving Ezreal at a loss for word. Lydia almost felt bad for Ezreal. Almost.

Seeing that Ezreal failed, Lydia resigned herself to confronting Shiskah.

"So how you've been Shiskah?" Lydia asked cautiously.

Shiskah sighed. "I am fine," she replied. "The injuries I sustained during Rek'sai were minor, and are healing well enough as it is."

"Well, that's good, but what about the…other stuff?" Lydia pressed on.

"Like how I am dealing with Kaveh's death?" Shiskah said curtly.

"Well… yeah, like that," Lydia said.

Shiskah's grip on her spear tightened, and her lips pursed as her frown deepened. "I am fine," she said. "It is not unusual for a mercenary to die. He was not the first person I worked with that died, and he will not be the last."

"I guess that's true, but…" Lydia said, not sure how to phrase it. Even with the short time she spent Kaveh, his infectious joy at adventure and small talk had already made her feel so connected with him. She couldn't imagine that Shiskah would not feel at least the same way she was feeling. Plus, with the way Shiskah was watching over him in the last moments, it was definitely not just "another death".

"Oh yeah," Ezreal said suddenly. "Didn't Kaveh say something about a brother? About sending him a message or something like that? Do you know anything about this brother?"

"I do not," Shiskah said.

"Ah. Well, maybe you can help us find him? Surely you would have better luck in tracking him down. I'd even pay you if that's what you're worried-"

"I will not be running this fool's errand," Shiskah interrupted. "Look for him if you wish, but I have no intention of seeking out this brother of his."

Ezreal blinked. "Fool's errand?" he repeated dumbly.

"Yes, a fool's errand."

"But this is Kaveh's request, surely you can't mean that-"

"Kaveh was a fool," Shiskah snapped. "A fool that only thought of adventure and little of his own life. It is no wonder he is now dead." A heavy silence hung between the three of them for a bit, until Lydia spoke up.

"That's going too far, Shishkah," Lydia whispered. Shiskah made no reply to that, as she went back to scanning the area.

After several minutes, she stood up. "I will go patrol around the area," she said curtly. "There is no need for all three of us here. I will scout around and cover our blind spots." And without waiting for a reply, she strode off, leaving the two of them.

Lydia sighed. "Well that went well," she said miserably.

Ezreal shrugged. "We tried," he said. "People deal with grief in their own way. I just hope she can come to terms with it eventually." He crossed his arms as he stared up at the night sky. "Trust me, losing those that are close to you can eat away at you for life."

"Did you lose some people to exploring?" Lydia said.

"What?" Ezreal said, startled.

"Like, when you go out and explore ruins and all. Did you ever lose people that way?"

"Oh, that. Well, yeah, I did lose a few people that way, especially in the beginning. Figured it was best then to keep explorations a mostly solo thing then." Ezreal said hurriedly. Lydia found that odd. It felt like there was something Ezreal wasn't willing to talk about.

"Oh, anyways!" Ezreal said, clearly trying to change the subject. "What in Runeterra was that thing you did to Rek'sai? Flames just sprouted out from Rek'sai!"

Lydia decided to not press the matter and went along with Ezreal's questioning. "I really don't know," she replied. "I was just thinking of that candle training and how bloody useless it was and then all of a sudden I just felt… well something, and next thing I knew Rek'sai was on fire."

"Well, that's great!" Ezreal exclaimed. "I was beginning to think you had no aptitude for magic at all, but this changes everything! We can get you to learn some things with that magic of yours. Ezreal then paused as he scratched his head. "…but what kind of spell was that? It's definitely fire magic, but I haven't heard of any kind of magic where that fire burns from the inside-out…" he gazed at Lydia curiously, but then shrugged. "Well, we'll figure it out," he said. "Since it seems like you definitely have an affinity for fire, we should keep honing on that for now, and then we'll see if we can expand it to other uses. So to do that…" he pulled out several candles. "Let's try to see you do something fire-like with these candles."

Lydia groaned.

"Hey, wake up," Ezreal said to Lydia, who was slumped over on her camel.

"Hm?" Lydia groaned as she rubbed her eyes. "What happened?"

"We're almost there," Ezreal pointed ahead. "I figured you'd rather not enter the village and have them found out how loud you snore."

Lydia ignored his comment as she peered ahead suspiciously. "Is it really that close?" she asked suspiciously. She could barely make out a what looked like a blot to her. "It still feels like we have some distance ahead."

"We'll be there in a couple of hours at the most," Ezreal assured her. "Besides, the group's planning to pick up the pace. The sooner we're in the village, the safer we are."

"Hm, ok then," Lydia replied, still not entirely convinced. "What is this place anyways? Is it another village?"

"We'll be entering Bel'Zhun. I wouldn't say it's huge, but it's a coastal outpost that does a lot of trading, especially with the Noxians," Ezreal explained. "Technically speaking, it's no longer Shuriman area, since it got annexed by Noxus."

"The nation that's always going to war with others," Lydia said. She vaguely remembered in the beginning, when Ezreal was getting her acquainted to the world, how he had pulled out a map and pointed out the different nations. If she could recall correctly, he had mentioned how their policy was always about strength.

Ezreal nodded. "Yeah, that one. Before, they had some ruler, someone called…ah, I forgot. That's all in the past now. Anyways, Bel'Zhun is especially known for their mwatis wool. It's very soft and the designs they make are amazing. I sent a few mwatis back for myself the last time I was here."

"Mwati?"

"Oh right, I keep forgetting that you're not from around here. Just a second." Ezreal rummaged through his journal. "Here, these are mwatis. Don't they look cozy? Kind of hard to believe they live so close to the desert, honestly."

Lydia studied the drawing. The mwati kind of reminded her of a goat, though rather than horns, they had a large plated casque on their head. It did seem kind of weird that these animals with their fluffy wool would be around in the desert.

"So what's the next step after we enter Bel'Zhun?"

"Well, like I said, it's a coastal outpost. Which means there's a lot of ships that come and go. We're gonna sail the rest of the way to Piltover. It's much faster that way, see?" Ezreall rolled open a map. "Otherwise we'd have to go all the way around, and honestly, I'd rather not stay in the desert any longer than we have to."

Lydia wholeheartedly agreed. She had enough of Xer'sai to last her a lifetime, and the winds blowing sand into your face could make a person quite irritated. "There won't be any weird monsters popping up in the waters? Like a Kraken or something?"

"Kraken?" Ezreal said, confused. "I don't know what you're thinking of, but the waters around here are relatively safe here."

"Well, good enough for me." Lydia said as she stretched. "It'll be nice to have a bit of peace and quiet." She glanced at the caravan group. "Do you think Sivir will be fine? What with those raiders and all?"

"I'm sure she'll manage," Ezreal said. "She certainly seems resourceful. Besides, no raiders would be willing to get close to Bel'zhun what with the Noxians around." A horn sounded. "Oh, looks like we're starting to speed up. Pick up the pace, or we'll really take forever to get there."

It was just as Ezreal said. In a couple of hours, the group found themselves at the gate entrance, a few surly guards standing at the sides.

After they went through inspection, Sivir waved the two of them over.

"What, do you want the rest of your money already?" Ezreal said sourly.

"I would like that, but I was actually calling you over to let you know I'll have some business to attend to… Don't look at me like that. I know that technically my job is done, but as a little bonus, I'll extend it to when you guys actually leave this place." Sivir winked before looking up at the sky. "How about we meet up at the Ek'har inn by sundown? It's the inn with a picture of a Dormun."

"Works for me," Ezreal said. "We need to buy some more travel supplies anyways."

Sivir nodded. "Well then, I'll see you later then." And with that, she headed then with a small group of her mercenaries and disappeared into the crowd.

Ezreal gestured Lydia over. "We should find a ship to take us in before we do anything else."

Ezreal confidently led Lydia through the bustling streets, but Lydia kept getting waylaid. There were all manners of sights and smells that overwhelmed her. All manners of stalls were set up on the sides, merchants that kept shouting out their wares, their camels laden with all sorts of items, vendors with meat sizzling on grills and broths simmering in huge cauldrons.

"All right, we can check it out… after we get passage to Piltover," Ezreal said for the umpteenth time to Lydia, was now focused on an odd monkey-like creature in a cage that kept shifting colors.

The bustling market filled with exotic items and colorful clothes eventually gave way to grimy, gruff men that barely even glanced at them as they passed by, the smell of perfumes and food changing to ocean spray and raw fish. The buildings parted and rows of ships stood at the port, sailors lugging out boxes, shouting at each other as they transported goods.

"If we're lucky, he should still be here…" Ezreal muttered, more to himself than Lydia as he scanned the ships. "Ah, there it is!" He pointed out to a small schooner. Lydia was no expert in ships, but it seemed rather dingy and beat up, and seemed like it was a miracle it could float, but she held her reservations as he approached the ship.

"Hey, is Captain Reliar here?" Ezreal asked a lounging sailor, who glared at him and muttered something about being on break, but he shuffled into the schooner. A couple of minutes later, an old man, his beard looking as if he stuffed half of his lunch in there, hobbled out. He took one look at Ezreal and grinned, his yellowed teeth doing nothing to help his appearance.

"Ez, m'boy," he said. "I thought for sure this be your last adventure! But I guess people like us just can never get ourselves killed, eh?"

"Good to see you too, Reliar. I thought you'd collapse of a heart attack," Ezreal said good-naturedly, patting Reliar on the shoulder.

Reliar laughed, and for just a second, the years melted away on his face, and Lydia could almost see the former shadow of how he used to be, a commandeering captain traveling the high seas, but it was gone a second later.

"Well, I can already guess what you're here for, " Reliar said. "Shall we work out the the logistics?"

"Well, I'd say this was a pretty productive day," Ezreal said as the two of them headed back.

Reliar still had some business to attend to, but would leave in a few days and stop by PIltover. After Ezreal and Reliar haggled the price of passage, Ezreal and Lydia then went back to the marketplace to prepare for the upcoming trip, and had just finished shopping a few minutes ago.

"I think we'll get you some weapons when we reach Piltover," Ezreal said. "I know some personal shops that'll get you some pretty good deals. And even though we know you have magical aptitude now, it can't hurt to have some weapons that don't rely solely on magic."

"Sure," Lydia nodded. She looked around. "I don't see the inn. Do you?"

"Er…I'm not sure," Ezreal admitted. They had to ask a merchant where to find the inn since Ezreal wasn't completely sure They "Honestly, I never really spent much time around this area. Too many Noxians hanging around here ever since this place got annexed. Honestly, I'm not sure why Sivir is having us meet in a place like this."

"Are Noxians really that bad?" Lydia said as she scanned the streets. "I mean, I get that they're militaristic and all, but it kind of sounds like they're pretty tyrannical."

"Eh, I wouldn't go so far as to call them tyrannical. You never know when they'll try to conquer you though. It's makes for a pretty uneasy relationship with them." He pointed at a building with an animal that reminded Lydia a cross between a boar and an armadillo. "That's a dormun, and the words say Ek'har."

Lydia squinted to make out the words, but they simply looked like squiggles to her. She found it odd that for some reason she was able to understand Ezreal and the rest, even though from the looks of it, especially looking at their writing, the language was different.

"Why are there two guards in front of the door?" she asked, pointing at the two soldiers standing at attention in front of the inn.

"I don't know," Ezreal replied, puzzled. "I know this is a fancier inn, but its weird for them to have soldiers guarding an inn… maybe they're actually customers here?"

Lydia rolled her eyes at that statement. "Well, this is the right place though, right?"

"It definitely is… well, I guess the only way to know for sure is to just ask," Ezreal decided. He strolled up to the two guards, who barely moved save for their eyes.

"Evening, gentlemen," Ezreal greeted them. "Is this the Ek'har inn?"

"Yes," one of the guards replied brusquely.

"Ah, well, we're at the right place," Ezreal called out to Lydia, even though she was only a few feet away. She cringed slightly. "Well, guys, we're meeting up with someone here, so would you mind if we pass through?"

"Identification?" the other guard asked. Ezreal blinked.

"Identification?" Ezreal repeated.

"Yes, identification," the soldier replied, exasperated. "If you are truly meeting up with someone, you should have identification to prove it!"

Ezreal pulled Lydia to the side. "Did Sivir mention anything about identification?" he whispered to her. Lydia shook her head. Sivir definitely did not say anything about identification.

Ezreal turned back to the guards. "Uh, well, funny story," he said. "I didn't actually get an identification thing, but maybe if you check in the back, you'll find someone called Sivir who-"

"We have not heard of her," the guard interrupted.

"Are you sure?" Ezreal pressed on. "Can't you double check or…?"

"No identification, no entrance," the guard replied firmly.

"Oh, that's just great," Ezreal said exasperatedly. "Did Sivir prank us, or…"

"Prank you on what?" a voice called out from behind. The two of them looked back and found Sivir and her group of mercenaries right behind her.

"They're not letting us through," Lydia explained to Sivir, pointing at the impassive guard blocking the inn's entrance.

Sivir looked over the guards once, then smiled sweetly at them. "Come on, boys," she said. "They're with me. Can't you let them through."

"We are not permitted to outsiders in without proper identification," one of them said.

Sivir sighed, then pulled out an insignia from a knapsack. "Will this do then?"

The guards peered at it, and it almost seemed as if they paled once they recognized what it was. They straightened their back and saluted them.

"Apologies for the trouble," they said, their attitude taking a complete turn. "Please, right on through."

"Thank you boys," Sivir said, as she ushered Ezreal and Lydia in.

"What was that seal?" Lydia asked. "They seemed pretty scared once they saw it."

"Uh uh, that's my business, not yours," Sivir said, winking. Lydia frowned, but decided not to press further.

The inn they stepped in was so fancy, it did not fit the traditional inn Lydia imagined. There was a reception room with carpeted floors. If it were not for the armored soldiers and people with their long flowing robes, Lydia might have actually believed she was at a fancy hotel on Earth.

There was a lady in particular that felt very regal, as she stood haughtily with her arms crossed, a long flowing emerald dress hugging her body, as glittering jewels adorned her neck and arms, a crowd of soldiers surrounding her as she tapped her foot impatiently. She seemed to have noticed their group, and she pursed her lips, but then, to Lydia surprise, she walked toward them.

Sivir seemed to show no surprise as she continued walking straight toward the lady. They two of them stopped several feet away.

The lady looked over Sivir slowly, her eyes then shifting to the group. Her gaze felt cold and felt as if she disapproved of the ragtag mercenary group.

Finally, she spoke.

"You're late," she said. Despite her expression, her voice was melodic, almost haunting. "I have been waiting all morning for you."

"Oh, sorry about that," Sivir said breezily. "I didn't realize when you said today, you specifically meant in the morning."

The lady frowned, clearly annoyed, but did not press the matter further. "Is this all for you group?" she asked. "They seem rather small."

"Well, we obviously lost a few since we had to rush here, but it's good enough," Sivir replied. "Besides, you aren't lacking in recruits." She pointed at the soldiers behind her.

The lady snorted. Her eyes rested on Ezreal. "You seem familiar…" she muttered.

"Oh, him?" Sivir butted in. "He's just one of the hires around here in Bel'Zhun. You probably might have seen him around helping some of the people."

The lady shook her head. "No, that can't be it," she muttered.

A soldier came running up to the lady's side. "My lady Cassiopeia," he said. "You have a message from your mother Soreana." Lydia felt Ezreal stir a little.

The lady named Cassiopeia nodded. "Very well," she said. "We shall discuss things tomorrow."

Sivir waved at her. The minute Cassiopeia was out of sight, Ezreal burst out "You had a job here!?"

"Whatever do you mean?" Sivir said, who could barely contain her grin.

Ezreal jabbed his finger in her direction. "Don't you dare play dumb. So you mean to tell me that all this time you had me paying you to go somewhere you were going all along?"

"Well, I saw an opportunity, and it worked out, didn't it?" Sivir replied. "Besides, would you preferred to travel without my help?"

"You-you…" Ezreal fumbled with his words, though he was clearly fuming. Sivir patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, relax. I got you guys into this fancy inn, didn't I?"

"Does this benefit you in any way?" Lydia asked. Sivir only winked at this. "Maybe," Sivir said. "But in the end, it's a win-win for both of us. You don't even have to pay for the rooms."

Ezreal opened his mouth, but Lydia reached out and tapped him on the shoulder. He looked at her and sighed.

"Guess I shouldn't expect anything less from you," he said as he glared at Sivir. "Doubt you got any sense of values at this point."

"I got values," Sivir replied. "They stack up nicely."

Ezreal could only rub his temples.

"Well, I suppose this is where we part," Sivir said. Lydia and Ezreal were standing next to the schooner. It had been a few days since then. Sivir still wasn't yet going to head out, and no matter how much the two of them pressed her, she didn't say what exactly her new job was.

"Yeah," Lydia said. She looked behind Sivir, hoping to find Shiskah.

"She went off to do some recon," Sivir said, as if reading her mind.

"Oh," Lydia said.

"Well, I for one can't wait to get rid of you," Ezreal said as he glared at Sivir.

"Feel free to hire me again, pretty boy," Sivir said, laughing. Ezreal scowled at her.

"Alright, you whelps!" Rellier's voice boomed from the schooner. "We'll be leaving soon, so you better get your arse in here or I'm leaving ya, whether ya paid or not!"

Ezreal huffed and stomped away. Sivir waved, then noticed that Lydia was still there.

"Something wrong? You know the ship's going to leave soon, right?" Sivir asked.

Lydia hesitated. "I had a question," she said.

"Well, go ahead," Sivir replied. "It might cost you though."

Lydia chose her words carefully. "The whole… values thing," she said. "Would you really do anything… like anything at all, as long as it pays well?"

Sivir's smile froze. The seconds passed. Then, ever so slowly, Sivir leaned close to Lydia, their foreheads practically touching as the emerald circlet pressed against Lydia's head.

Sivir spoke but one word. "Anything," she said flatly. Gone was her smile, and the twinkle in her eyes was gone, replaced with a cold hard stare. In that moment Lydia saw Sivir for what she truly was, a mercenary that followed where the money was, and only the money. It was not as if Sivir was hiding it, but it kind of felt hard to acknowledge it.

Sivir's face returned back to her relaxed smile, and she straightened herself. "Well, I hope you guys have safe passage."

"Y-yeah, you too," Lydia said. "May the sun shine the way on your path."

Sivir blinked, then laughed. "And the sand be firm under your feet," she replied smacking her on the back. "You be careful now, you hear?"

"Same to you," Lydia replied. She didn't know why, but she had a really bad feeling about that lady at the inn. Something about her struck her as odd, as if she had some big scheme going on.

So absorbed she was she barely noticed when she went back on the ship, and even less so when Ezreal was frantically rifling through his bag. It was only when Ezreal shook her on the shoulders that she finally was shaken out of her reverie.

"What's the matter?" She asked Ezreal, who looked a little green in the face.

"Hey, just wondering, but would you happen to have a bottle filled with some small white pills?" Ezreal asked faintly.

Lydia rummaged around in her sack, but couldn't find anything matching that description. "No, I don't think so… did you forget it?" The ship was already leaving the port, so she doubted that Ezreal could rush on back.

He groaned.

"Was it important?" Lydia said, concerned. Did Ezreal have a condition? Did he need it because of the magic overuse the last time?

Ezreal hobbled over to the side of the ship. "Actually…" he said weakly. "I didn't want to tell you this, but…"

"But what?" Lydia asked.

Ezreal held his stomach before weakly saying "I get seasick easily."

Lydia blinked. Ezreal heaved.

As the ship left port, there was the smell of ocean spray, with a faint scent of vomit.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

Lydia sighed, as she stared out into the sea. "I'm bored," she muttered.

"What was that?" a voice said, startling her. She craned her neck and found Ezreal, who was gnawing on some smelly plant. She wrinkled her face as the putrid smell wafted to her. "Could you not eat that near me?" she complained.

"Hey, these billidrocks are what's keeping me from throwing up my lunch, so you should be happy that I'm eating these!" Ezreal protested. It had been little over a week now since they left Bel'zhun. Relier had a couple of stops before they reached Piltover, and Ezreal took advantage of that to hurriedly acquire a remedy for his seasickness, a black root that, lightly speaking, smelled like hot garbage.

"Still can't believe the 'Prodigal Explorer' gets seasick," Lydia told Ezreal.

"Hey, my explorations are firmly located on land," Ezreal said. "I'll let the other explorers handle the sea."

Lydia rolled her eyes, and resumed staring out at the ocean.

Ezreal leaned over as well. "Relier says we should reach Piltover before the day's over," he said. "Then you'll be able to see the Sun Gate!"

"Yes, you've mentioned it a few times," Lydia replied dryly. During this voyage, Ezreal had seen it his duty to inform of her just how amazing Piltover was.

"It's true that we're just a city," he would often say. "But we're a city of dreams. We're trying to go beyond relying on just magic."

Piltover, from what Lydia could discern, was a city that thrived on science. While it was true that magic was a core foundation of this world, that didn't mean people had the aptitude that some would have when it came to magic. Most strong mages already had an affinity, and most could not afford the years of training to achieve the magical aptitude for magic to be useful, so many never bother to ever use magic. People in Piltover, however, strived to make inventions that could be accessible for everyone. Tasks that were previously thought impossible, even with magic, could suddenly done by a child… so long as they had the equipment. One such invention was the Sun Gate, which allowed access to the other side of the ocean without having to go around. To Lydia, it sounded like a typical canal that Earth had, so she was decidedly less impressed than Ezreal thought she would be when her told her about it. As a result, Ezreal kept pestering her about the many things Piltover has provided up to now.

Lydia yawned, then glanced at Ezreal suspiciously. "Piltover better not end up being some shabby town with all of this hyping up you've been doing."

"It isn't!" Ezreal protested. "Trust me, once you see it, you'll love it. As a matter of fact, while we're there, we should consider getting you some hextech. I bet you'll love it."

"But I have an aptitude for magic, don't I?"

"You do, but at the moment, you still can't use it all will," Ezreal reminded her. "And while it's admirable that you've still been sparring, your combat ability is…well, it could use some work. Besides, hextech gear seems like it might be closer to the technology that you're used to… if what you're saying about your world is true." Now it was Ezreal's turn to look at Lydia suspiciously.

Lydia groaned. "I told you, that's just the way my world is."

"Mmhm," Ezreal said, unconvinced. "I can accept that your place does not have any magic, but you're telling me that in your world, you guys make a huge, metal…whatever that shape is, catapult it to the sky-"

"It takes off, not catapulted," Lydia corrected him, but he ignored her and continued.

"That weighs several tons, can hold dozens of people, and somehow able to fly at extremely fast speeds…without any magic at all?"

"Uh, yeah," Lydia replied. "We've had them for a while now. It's a pretty common form of transportation there."

"Aw, come on, be serious!" Ezreal said. "There's no way you can manage to lug a heavy piece of metal into the sky at the speeds you're talking about!"

"Well, it's not my fault you're an idiot who doesn't understand the concepts of thrust and lift!"

"I get those concept! But telling me that you have an engine that-"

And so the sailors, for more times than they could count, snickered as they listened to the bickering of Ezreal and Lydia.

"Oi, I don't pay you guys to look pretty! Now move your arse! I want to inside Piltover before the Sungate closes!" Captain Relier bellowed.

The sailors, who were busy gambling, leapt up and scrabbled about on the deck, hurriedly shoving their coin and cards away. Lydia, who was perusing through Ezreal's notes about his explorations (dubbed "The Epic Tales and Adventures of Ezreal, The Prodigal Explorer), briefly looked up to see the scene before going back to reading the notebook.

"Hey, I know my adventure are riveting, but I find the best way to enjoy adventures is to actually experience it yourself," Ezreal said, as he sat down next to Lydia.

"I've been trying to learn as much as I can about Piltover," Lydia replied. She rifled through the pages. "You don't really talk much about it though."

Ezreal scratched his head. "I guess I never really bothered to, what with it being my hometown," he admitted sheepishly. "But hey, there are plenty of people there that write enough volumes about Piltover! You can read stuff there!"

"Kind of defeats the point," Lydia muttered.

"Relax, you'll be fine," Ezreal replied. "All kinds of people visit Piltover all the time. You won't be any different. More importantly, you should check out the Sun Gate. I've traveled quite a bit of the world, and even after all that traveling, I still believe that this is one of the greatest things to see in Runeterra."

"Fine, I'll check out this amazing water canal you keep talking about," Lydia grumbled as she stood up on her feet, wincing slightly as pain shot up through her right leg and chest. Gritting her teeth, she walked over to the bow of the ship.

Even though they were still quite some distance away,a bridge loomed over them, spanning the whole channel. In the center was the gates, two statues adorning each side, their bronze forms glinting dimly as they stood at attention, as if guarding the doors. The door itself was heavily decorated, though if you looked closely, you could notice the gears and parts peeking out in various spots.

But while that was grand enough, further back, another gate, far larger and more ornate, stood further back, so high up Lydia couldn't make out behind the top at all. She assumed this was where the other side of the ocean, and that wall was acting as a sort of dam.

"Well, what do you think?" Ezreal asked.

"It is pretty cool," Lydia said. She studied it a bit more. "Certainly wins some style points here."

"Oh, just wait a bit," Ezreal said. "There's more than one reason why Rellier wanted to arrive now than later. Should be right about…now."

Lydia looked out once more. It was a little hard to see since the sun was setting, but about a minute later, the sun set behind the gate. It was then the gate seemed to glow, almost as if it was gold itself. The glow from the sun made the entire gate, along with the rest of the city, shimmer.

"And this is why we call it the Sun-Gate," Ezreal said proudly. "Can only see this sight during sunrise and sunset. The engineers claimed that they did this on purpose, but most historians think this was just a coincidental feature."

"Ok, that is pretty amazing," Lydia admitted. She looked over to Ezreal. "Your city certainly knows how to make an impression, I'll give you that."

Ezreal grinned. "That we do," he agreed.

As they were talking, an orb-like machine, its rotors whirring furiously, made its way over to them, stopping right in front of them,

"Hello," a tinny voice came out of the machine. "Please state the purpose of your visit today."

"That'd be for trading," Rellier said, stepping between the two and the robot.

"Understood," the robot said. A hole opened up, dispensing a tube with a roll of forms inside. "Please fill out these necessary forms and place it back into the tube and me when you are done."

"Already did that," Rellier muttered, as he pulled out from inside his coat the already completed forms, tied and rolled neatly. He replaced the forms in the tube with the completed forms, while pocketing the empty forms. "Makes it faster this way," he explained to Lydia. He then pushed the tube back in, and the robot clicked and beeped in confirmation.

"Thank you for your submission,' the robot said. "The guards will process your application and perform and inspection shortly." And with that, the robot left, making its way to the gate.

"Hey, what about that?" Ezreal said, pointing the departing robot. "Isn't it pretty cool how efficient we are by using robots?"

"Eh, it looks cool, but not as efficient as you might think," Lydia said, thinking of online application in her world.

Ezreal crossed his arms. "Not as efficient?" he said. "Oh come on, you're telling me you guys somehow-"

And so they began arguing again, making Lydia forget to ask about something that had been bothering her, something she had noticed. About how even though the sun had lit up the bridge and made the city bright, there was a section that did not light up, but remained dark.

That question, along with the city, slipped into the back of her mind.

"Well, that inspection took a little longer than expected," Ezreal grumbled, as he stepped off the boat. The sun had now completely disappeared, and all the lampposts were lit up, humming softly. Lydia shielded her eyes from all the light. She never realized how much light a city had, but after her adventure in the Shuriman desert and traveling the sea, the contrast was bizarre.

"Well, not much we could have done about that," Lydia replied.

"True," Ezreal said, sighing. "I was kind of hoping to do some shopping though, but most of the places are probably closing now… ah well, just a slight delay. We'll probably hang around here for a few days anyways, there's no rush." He motioned for her to follow him.

Lydia waved back at Rellier. "Thanks a lot, Rellier!" she shouted.

Rellier tipped his hat. "No need to thank me," he said. "May Janna be with you through all the storms of your life."

"And you as well!" Lydia replied, making a mental note to ask Ezreal later who Janna was. She hurried along and was soon side-by-side with Ezreal.

"So what's the plan, exactly?" she asked. "How will coming here help us get me back?"

"There's two main reasons why we're coming back here," Ezreal explained. He raised a finger. "First off, when it comes to science and technology, we're probably the best in all of Valoran, maybe even all of Runeterra. The scientists may know something about this Earth you talk about, and might even be developing something to try to get there."

He raised another finger. "Second, we need to find out more about Shuriman history so we can get an idea of what that thing that transported you here was."

"Shouldn't we have just gone to a, I dunno, a Shuriman library?" Lydia said.

Ezreal shook his head. "They don't have such a thing. You don't know about this, but once upon a time, Shurima used to be a great empire that mysteriously collapsed. Ever since then, Shurimans consists of mostly small villages and nomadic tribes, with only their oral history to tell of what they know. Piltover has been doing expeditions to see the ruins of the empires to catalog their history and figure out what it used to be like."

"Huh," Lydia said. "But is it necessary to know Shurima if you guys are the best in technology?"

"Well, I do say we're the best right now, but Shurima has artifacts that even we don't understand," Ezreal admitted. "They were way ahead of their time. Part of the reason why the professors in Piltover study Shurima is in hopes of finding out how their technology works and how we could use it."

It sounded like that might be the main reason why the professors were studying them, but Lydia decided not to mention that.

"All right, so here's the place to know about Shurima, and not Shurima itself," she said. "So are we going to stroll into a library and just start searching around for… whatever transported me?"

"No," Ezreal said, grinning. "We're going to stroll into a museum."

They stopped in front of a building, which looked oddly plain compared to the other gaudy and intricate designs its neighboring building had. A sign read: The Lymere Museum: A History of Runeterra, along with a smaller sign reading: Special Exhibition of Artifacts pre-dating the Rune Wars.

"Not really sure, but I think the museum might already be close…" Lydia said, as she eyed the building.

"Don't worry," Ezreal said. "If I'm right – and I often am – He should be here still working as we speak." And with that, Ezreal knocked on the door. There was silence. The two of them stood there for a bit before Lydia turned to Ezreal and said "Often right, huh?"

Ezreal face flushed. "He's probably in the back! He must not have heard!" He began pounding on the door, but there was still no response. He muttered furiously to himself and kicked the door. When it seemed as if he was ready to break down the door, a prim young man, looking very displeased, opened the door.

"It is after business hours," he said. "If you would like to-" he stopped when he noticed Ezreal, and his jaw dropped slightly. "M-master Lymere," he stammered. "I was unaware that is was you."

"Hey, Kalki," Ezreal greeted him. "Could you tell the old man that I'm here?"

"Of course, sir," Kalki said, straightening his back. "Please, do come in first, though."

He led the two of them to what Lydia assumed to be the reception room, seating them at a couch. He bowed slightly, nodding at Lydia, then said. "I will inform Professor Lymere of your arrival." And with that, he headed off.

As soon as Kalki was out of earshot, Lydia raised her eyebrows at Ezreal. "What?"

"Master Lymere?" she repeated. "That's your last name?"

"Yeah, so what about it?" Ezreal said defensively.

Lydia sniggered. "Nothing," she said. "You just don't seem like a Lymere."

Ezreal smiled wryly as he scratched his head. "Well, I guess that's true," he said.

"Ezreal Lymere, the Prodigal Explorer," Lydia said, then shook her head. "Yeah, that wouldn't work. For some reason, I just imagine you as one of those posh old men sitting on their couch as they sip tea and discuss the philosophies of life."

Ezreal laughed at that. "But, my dear Lydia," he said, adopting a somber and formal voice. "I am only curious as to how fruit fly perceives time itself."

"Ah yes, but of course, Master Lymere," Lydia replied, following suit. "It is quite an interesting problem. If it is to have such a short lifespan, then when would it have its midlife crisis? Does it think of one minute as a year?"

"We must research more about this. It is a good thing my garbage is full of them!" Ezreal said, nodding sagely, before the two of them couldn't hold it in and began laughing. Their laughter was cut short when they heard a stern coughing.

Ezreal and Lydia straightened up. Kalkia was back, and with him was a man wearing a rich velvet suit, his cane tapping along as he made his way to them, his gloved hand stroking his beard as he stared at Ezreal disapprovingly.

"We are not that ridiculous!" he said, as he pointed his cane at Ezreal. "I swear, I don't know what you have against professors!"

"Oh, come on, old man," Ezreal said, as he gently pushed the cane aside. "I don't have anything against professors. I mean, I like you, don't I?"

Professor Lymere sniffed. "Sometimes I wonder," he said. "And besides, I hardly hear anything nice from the other professors about you. But I am not willing to argue about that. So what brings you here?"

"Can't a nephew come see his uncle he hasn't seen in a while?" Ezreal asked.

"You'll find that my nephew has a tendency to run off when it's convenient and thinks sending the random artifact counts as communicating with his uncle."

"Hey, I'm here now, aren't I?" Ezreal pointed out.

"Mmhmm," Professor Lymere said. "And I suppose your visit has nothing at all to do with this?" He pushed a newspaper, a boomerang shape particles of light across the sky, the headlines reading "ANOMALY IN THE SKY, ASTRONOMERS REPORT. BIRDS DROPPING FROM THE SKY". Ezreal's face paled.

"So, what is this about?" Lymere asked, smiling, though it did not reach his eyes.

Lydia pored over the newspaper. "Your magic could reach this far?" she asked incredulously. Perhaps Ezreal's claims did have some validity.

"Aha! So it was you!" Lymere exclaimed, slamming his fist down on a table. "What did I tell you about using that magic! Last time you mowed down a whole forest! A whole forest!"

"I did what you suggested!" Ezreal protested. "I aimed upwards!"

"That was said sarcastically!" Lymere roared. "I would have thought you would be smart enough to realize sarcasm!"

"Um…" Lydia said hesitantly. It was then that Professor Lymere seemed to remember that Lydia was here. He rubbed his temples, but smiled at Lydia.

"Forgive me for the outburst. My nephew, as you might have realized…is a bit much." He stared at her curiously. "What brings you here?"

Ezreal scratched his head. "Well, you see…" he began.

"Hm, I see…" Professor Lymere said, scratching his chin, after Ezreal explained the whole story. "So basically, you want my help, I assume?"

"Of course!" Ezreal said. "I mean, you specialize in Shuriman archaeology, don't you? And even if you can't find anything, you're friends with pretty much all the professors. Surely you can refer us to somebody that can help her out."

"I do see your point," Lymere agreed.

"So help us out, old man," Ezreal said.

Lymere stared at Ezreal for a while, then over to Lydia, his gaze intent. He was silent for a bit, then sighed.

"I do understand what you're saying, I really do," He looked back at Lydia, his expression indiscernible.

"But I'm afraid I must refuse."


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

"Refuse? But why?" Ezreal asked, confusion clear on his face.

"Why? Why indeed?" Professor Lymere sputtered. Though he was trying hard to contain himself, it was evident that he was very, very angry. He suddenly reached for Ezreal's arm, pulling it up towards him as he examined his hands.

"Traces of magical exhaustion… again," Lymere said, his face dark. "Need I remind you that overexpending your magical resources shortens your lifespan? And I've already lost count of how often you have already done that." Ezreal shifted uncomfortably, looking down at the floor.

Lymere dropped Ezreal's arm as he looked over at Lydia. Without a word, he suddenly prodded her side with his cane, and she yelped, bowling over as the pain overwhelmed her.

"Broken ribs, from the sound of it, as well as a sprained or fractured leg, judging by how she was standing," Lymere commented. "Plus it seems like she might have magical exhaustion as well, and who knows what else the two of you are hiding from me." He sighed. "I can't have you going around on what is clearly a dangerous adventure any longer. So, I am very sorry about your predicament, Miss Lydia, but I cannot help you."

"But that's ridiculous!" Ezreal protested. "You're just not going to help her because you don't want me to go on exploring?"

"I made a promise to your mother, boy!" Lymere said. "And I have kept this tomfoolery of yours running long enough!"

"But this isn't about them!" Ezreal insisted, as he gestured to Lydia. "This is about her! Her family! Her home! I'm just trying to help her get back! Can you really just deny her because of me?"

Lymere looked at Lydia, quiet for a long time. Finally, he sighed.

"I suppose you have a point," he admitted. "I should not involve her in our dispute." He turned to her.

"Ms. Lydia, I will assist in your endeavor to go back to this… Earth place you speak of," he said. "I'll have my colleagues look into this and that Shuriman tomb, so we can figure out where to get started."

"See, I knew you weren't so bad, old man," Ezreal said smugly. "And while you're at it, mind giving us some travel supplies in preparation for our journey?"

"You will not be joining Ms. Lydia," Lymere said coldly.

Ezreal's jaw dropped. "What?" he said.

Lymere ignored Ezreal and continued speaking with Lydia. "I will also gather some adventurers around here. A few of my colleagues were adventurers themselves, and there is no lack of people setting out from Piltover. I can assure you that I will find the best to assist you back."

"No, wait, you can't do that!" Ezreal said, stepping in between the two. "Why am I not involved here! I'm one of the best explorers around! I've been to nearly all of Valoran! What makes you think you can just butt me out?"

"Because I am your uncle, boy!" Lymere thundered, and Ezreal flinched. "I will not have another one of my family die!"

Ezreal clenched his fists, his face turning red. "You don't know if they're dead!" he yelled at Lymere.

"It has been years, Ezreal! Years! And they still haven't come back! I thought by letting you explore for yourself, you would be able to accept that and find some closure, but it seems I was sorely mistaken!" Lymere said, smacking his cane down in anger. "As such, I will not let this continue on any longer! I will no longer fund any of your future expeditions, and I'll be sure to discuss this with my colleagues."

Ezreal stared at him. "You wouldn't," he said, disbelieving. "I bring so many of these artifacts you're exhibiting now!"

"It would be a sad loss," Lymere agreed. "But I'd much rather have my nephew alive than relics of already dead people."

"I won't allow it! You can't force me not to come along!" Ezreal said.

"I'm afraid the choice isn't up to you," Lymere replied. He turned to Lydia. "So how about it? Would you like to accept my help?"

Lydia hesitated. She had no idea what exactly was going on between the two, but it seemed serious. And while she did dearly want to go back home, she also didn't want to betray Ezreal, who was looking at her like he was some wounded beast. So, she did what she thought was best. She stalled.

"I… I don't know," she said. "Could I give you an answer after I recovered?" she gesture to her leg and sides.

Lymere pursed his lips, seemingly disappointed by this answer, but he nodded.

"Very well," he said. "I suppose you are in any condition to go around traveling anyways." He nodded towards Kalki, who bowed slightly before slipping off. Lymere smiled at Lydia. "You are welcome to stay here for as long as you need," he said. "We may not be the most influential clan here in Piltover, but we certainly can accommodate. Kalki will lead you back to our residence. I do hope you enjoy your stay." His smile slipped away as he stared at Ezreal, who was now sullen and staring at the ground. "And you, Ez, I hope you understand that I am not excluding you out of malice. I have the best intentions for you."

Ezreal muttered something inaudible, but Lymere seemed to have understood what he said, because he patted Ezreal on his shoulder and said simply "I do too."

Lymere pulled out a pocket watch. He nodded once before shutting it. "Well, I suppose now is a good time as any to stop working," he said. "I'll close up the museum. The two of you can go ahead." And with that, he was off.

Lydia scratched her head. Ezreal was still staring at the floor.

"Hey, Ez, let's go," she said, nudging him.

"What? Oh, yeah," Ezreal said listlessly. He headed straight to the door without a word.

The ride to Lymere's place was awkward, to say the least. Kalki, as he led the horses, remained stoic, while Ezreal simply stared out the window, saying nothing. Lydia wasn't sure how to approach either of them.

Lymere's residence was, in Lydia's opinion, quite fancy, despite his claims of being a clan in low standing (whatever that meant), reminding Lydia of the mansions she would often see in movies. Kalki led her to her bedroom, which was almost as big as a studio apartment.

"This will be your sleeping quarters," Kalki said. "Is there anything else I can assist you with? Would you perhaps need any food?"

"No, that will be fine, thank you,"

Kalki bowed before he left. Lydia sighed deeply, sinking onto the bed. She thought back to what Professor Lymere had said.

It sounded like, somehow, Ezreal lost his parents. She had been wondering Ezreal's situation with his parents, since he never really made a point to mention them, but had never dared broach the subject. Besides, she…

She shook her head. That wasn't important. What was important was the fact that Lymere did offer to help her, but without Ezreal's assistance.

She honestly wasn't sure what to do. Ezreal was the first to help her, and it would feel like betraying him if she accepted Lymere's offer and essentially ditch Ezreal.

On the other hand, she did want to go back to Earth. Runeterra was a fascinating place, it really was, but it was also a dangerous one, and after the incident with Rek'sai, she was quickly realizing how easily she could die. She wondered how her mother and siblings were doing. She felt a pang of homesickness. They were probably worried sick about her, wondering where she disappeared off to. After all, she just mysteriously vanished while…

Come to think of it, what was she doing before she got transported here? Lydia's brow furrowed as she tried to recall, yet no matter how hard she tried, she could not remember anything at all that happened that day. She felt she at least was at her home…

A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. She stood up and approached the door.

"Yes?" she asked cautiously.

"Ms. Lydia?" a familiar voice called out. It was Professor Lymere. "Am I disturbing?"

"No, you're not," Lydia said hastily, opening the door. Lymere stepped in, looking around.

"I do hope the bedroom is to your liking," he said. "I hope it doesn't fall short to the standards of your world."

"Oh, no, this is pretty great," Lydia replied. "This actually might be one of the best rooms I've seen.

Lymere chuckled. "There's no need for flattery, Ms. Lydia," he said. "But I do appreciate the sentiment."

"You here sooner than I thought," Lydia said. "Weren't you closing up the museum?"

"I was, but most of the work is done by robots, frankly speaking," Lymere replied. "It believe it only took about ten minutes after the two of you left for me to finish closing the museum."

"Oh, cool," Lydia said, not sure of what else to say. "That's uh, convenient."

"Indeed," Lymere replied, nodding. "But that is not why I am here. I came here to apologize."

"Apologize?" Lydia repeated.

"Yes, apologize," Lymere said. "You simply wish to return back home, to your family and friends, yet your situation became more complicated due to our family matters. For that, I sincerely apologize."

"Oh," Lydia said. "Well, it's fine. Family's complicated, right?"

"Indeed," Lymere said heavily, as he sat down at a table near the balcony window. "Family is very much complicated."

At that moment, Lymere looked forlorn, his forehead creased, the lines of his face drawn as he sighed.

Lydia hesitated. She was very curious what exactly was going on between the two, but she felt it was not her place to ask. It was very much a family matter, after all.

Fortunately, it seemed Lymere wanted to talk to her about it. "I have the best interests for Ezreal, you know," he said, without any prompting. "I really do. I just don't…" he paused, collecting himself. "I made a promise to his mother," he continued. "To raise him to be the best he can be if she and her husband were to ever die. It was one of those promises you do not think much about. After all, they were both explorers, so it's always a given that one day they might die, so I didn't think much about it. But when they disappeared…" He stared off out of the window. "Suddenly I was left to take care of a little young boy. An obstinate, precocious, smug, unruly boy that never listens to me. But… he is my dear and only nephew. That will never change."

Lymere crossed his legs. "Ezreal certainly takes after his mother, that's for sure," he said. "I was always the more bookish type. 'Live within the lines', that's my form of adventure. But my sister wasn't satisfied with just looking at a picture in a book. She wanted to _experience_ it. And against my parent's wishes, she scurried off, off to find adventure." He smiled as he recalled that memory.

"I always supported her decision, even now. But now, I think I'm starting to understand a little of what my parents felt when she ran off to explore ruins…"

He turned to Lydia and smiled. "You know, I don't think he's ever brought a companion along here before," he said. "Through all his bluff and bluster, he's actually quite lonely. Never got along with the other kids his age, too much sass for his teachers and seniors, and a bit too… flirty with the girls to have any real relationship going on. I must admit, it is nice to see someone is hanging out with him. Even if it is partly out of necessity." He chuckled to himself.

Lydia scratched her head, not sure what to say. "Why are you telling me all of this?" she finally asked.

Lymere stood up, his cane tapping softly as he made his way to the door. "Who knows?" he replied. "Perhaps because I hope you understand my dilemma here. Perhaps I hope that you can guide to Ezreal to what he's looking for. Or perhaps I'm just an old man who felt like rambling." He smiled once more. "Well, good night, Ms. Lydia. I will most likely be gone before you wake, but I have already told Kalki to escort you around Piltover. It really is a marvelous city. I'm sure you'll enjoy the tour." And with that, he closed the door, leaving Lydia alone with her thoughts in the big, oh so empty room.

Lydia could not sleep. She had not had the most restful of nights the past week or so, due to the pain she felt… well, everywhere, it seemed like. But it wasn't just that. Even after finding a position that did not wreak havoc to her ribs, she could not help but think about what Professor Lymere had told her. It gnawed at her, and finally, she threw off the three comforters and jumped out of bed. There was no way she was going to sleep like this. Perhaps a walk around the mansion would do the trick.

Lydia quietly slipped out of her room and began to explore the hallways. There was always something, she mused, about walking in places when it was quiet and isolated, something mystifying. She peered out a tear shaped window, taking in the gaze of Piltover, the lights twinkling across the city like dim stars. It was certainly nothing like the cities of Earth, but it certainly felt closer to home than the villages she experienced in Shurima.

It was then she noticed, looking around the corner of the window, someone sitting on the rooftop. As she looked closer, she could make out the telltale goggles on their head. She sighed before looking around the window. Sure enough, she found a latch to open it, and she pulled on it and stepped out.

It was Ezreal, sitting with his chin on his knees, his scarf rippling slightly in the wind as he stared at the city, the expression on his face indiscernible.

"What a surprise to see you here, Mr. Prodigal Explorer!" Lydia called out as she made her way towards him, gritting her teeth as she ignored the pain in her body.

Ezreal jumped, startled, and in his surprise, began sliding off the roof. Luckily, he managed to grab onto a tile, and he breathed a sigh of relief before glaring at Lydia.

"What in Janna's name was that for?" he said. "You could have gotten me killed!"

"Well, that would be embarrassing if you died in such a stupid way," Lydia said. "I would have expected better from you, Mr. Prodigal Explorer."

"I-" Ezreal opened his mouth, intending to say something, but thought better of it. He shook his head. "What are you even doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?"

"Couldn't sleep," Lydia replied, sitting down. "Thought taking a walk would help. Guessing you couldn't either?"

"…yeah," Ezreal said, sitting down next to her. "Had a lot to think about, you know?"

Lydia nodded, not pressing any further. They stared at the city.

"It really is a beautiful city, I'll give you that," Lydia said.

"It really is," Ezreal replied listlessly. They were quiet for a while.

"Do you think it's stupid?" Ezreal said suddenly.

"What?" Lydia said, confused.

Ezreal hesitated. "Do you think it's stupid of me to look for my parents, even though they've been gone for so long?" he asked. "Everybody says that they're dead, that if they were alive, there's no way they wouldn't have come back for me and all, but I can't help but think that… I mean, for instance, look at this." Ezreal showed his gauntlet to her.

"Yeah, the thing that can make you teleport," Lydia said.

"See, the thing is, my parents were looking for this before they disappeared," Ezreal said. "So I figured, I should go to the ruins and find out clues. They weren't there, but this gauntlet was. Just this gauntlet. You get it?"

"Uh… no?"

"There was only _one _gauntlet. There was supposed to be two gauntlets there. Combined, it was supposed to take you great distances. Yet there was only one there! So that must mean that my parents got the other gauntlet, you see? But for some reason, they were in a rush, maybe, I don't know, they were being targeted by someone, so they can't come see my and uncle. But if I keep exploring, and build a name, then they'll hear about me, and know how I'm doing and…" he faltered. "Pretty stupid, isn't it?"

Lydia nodded. "It is pretty stupid."

Ezreal blinked. "Wow," he said. "I mean, I know I was the one who said it was stupid, but still, for you to-"

"It is stupid," Lydia stupid. "But well…" She went back to staring at Piltover. "…Isn't it ok to have stupid dreams?"

"What?" Ezreal said.

"My dad left us when I was seven," Lydia said. "Out of nowhere. Went to work and just disappeared. Of course they searched, but most figured he left the family, probably found a mistress, all of that. We never did find out what happened."

"Oh," Ezreal said. "I'm so sorry."

"Nah, it's fine," Lydia said, waving her hand. "I mean, my mom doesn't talk about him at all, and my siblings have no idea what my dad's like, but it's fine."

"Uhhh…"

"Anyways, point is, even after all that… I still want to meet my dad," Lydia said. "Sure, he left us, but I still remember working on remote control cars together with him and racing them together."

"Wait, a remote control car? What exactly is-"

"And I knew he was an engineer, so I've been working on robotics and all that so that way, I always hope that one day, I might run into him while working on a project or at a conference, and I'd be able to be like 'Hey Dad, it's me, remember?'. And then we'd get back together and make up for lost time, my siblings get their dad back, and everything works out." She looked at Ezreal. "Stupid, isn't it?"

Ezreal cocked his head, but a moment later he began laughing. "It is pretty stupid, isn't it?" he agreed.

"Not as stupid as yours though," Lydia said.

"Hey, mine's much more realistic!" Ezreal protested. He stretched his arms. "So, are you thinking of accepting my uncle's offer? I mean, I totally understand if you do, no hard feelings."

"Oh, that?" Lydia said. "I'm not accepting it."

Ezreal blinked. "Wait, really? But why?"

"Your uncle came to talk to me earlier."

"Ugh," Ezreal said, rolling his eyes. "What'd he say?"

"That you're an obstinate stupid nephew that needs to be watched over."

"He did not!"

"Okay, maybe not exactly that, but that's what it sounded like to me," Lydia said, shrugging.

"Did you now?"

"Yeah. And anyways, don't us stupid dreamers got to stick together."

"Well, I guess if you insist," Ezreal said, rolling his eyes. He placed his head back onto his knees. So softly, that it almost felt like Lydia's imagination, she heard him say "Thank you." She pretended not to hear.

"So, well, guess we're not going to be able to accept my uncle's help," Ezreal said, laughing. Just as suddenly, he stopped, staring at her bleakly.

"How in Janna's name are we going to get you back then?"

"That… I don't know," Lydia admitted.

Ezreal sighed. "Maybe we're more stupid than we realize," he muttered.

Lydia had no rebuttal to that.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

Lydia and Ezreal both racked their brains, but could not come up with a solution. Lydia found that the brunt of Ezreal's plans had banked on Lymere helping them out. Without him, he had essentially stalled Ezreal's journeys. No funding expeditions, and the other professors respected him well enough to not listen to Ezreal if requested.

"Besides, the professors kind of hate me," Ezreal explained.

"Really? Why?"

"I… might have been a rowdy student of theirs. I also may or may not have called them senile sheltered buffoons that have never set a foot outside of Piltover."

Lydia rubbed her temples. "So is there nowhere else we can go instead?"

Ezreal thought about it for a moment. "I suppose we can head back to Shurima and talk to different tribes," he suggested. "I mean, I bet there's some tribe out there that has an idea of that tomb we explored and what it did."

"Didn't you say most of the tribes were nomadic? I'd rather not wander the desert searching for these tribes, considering what we experienced," Lydia said dryly.

"Hey, it was just a suggestion!" Ezreal said defensively. He sighed. "I mean, I guess we could go to other nations. They probably at least have _some_ information, but the bigger problem is how to access it. We'd be foreigners there, and usually that kind of knowledge is restricted to nobles and higher-ups."

With no clear idea on how to tackle this, they both decided to sleep on it and figure it out. So Lydia headed back to her bedroom, collapsing onto the bed and almost immediately fell asleep.

It barely felt as if a moment passed when Lydia woke to a rapping on her door. She groaned, but trudged out of bed and opened the door. It was Kalki, standing prim and proper as always.

"Good morning, Miss Lydia," he greeted her. "Master Lymere has already left for the Academy, but he has entrusted me in guiding you today throughout Piltover."

"Oh, that's very nice of you, Kalki, you don't have to do that," Lydia said.

Kalki frowned slightly, seemingly puzzled, but quickly resumed his stoic expression. "Not at all, Miss Lydia. It is my pleasure to guide you."

"Well, thanks anyways. Just let me… let me get ready first."

"But of course. I believe we should already have some clothes in the wardrobe you may be able to use. And, as soon as you are ready, our first order of business is breakfast." He paused. "Actually, the first order of business is to wake Master Ezreal," he corrected. "If it is possible."

So Lydia hurriedly splashed water on her face and looked inside the wardrobe. She grimaced. There were quite a few dresses, all of them far too ostentatious for her tastes, far too gaudy, far too puffy. No matter how much she looked, none of them seemed to match her tastes. She was thinking about giving up and just wearing the Shuriman garbs she had when she spied a box at the corner of the wardrobe, a sleeve peeking out. Intrigued, she pulled it out and opened it. Looking inside, she smiled and nodded.

A few minutes later, she was out, sporting a brown leather vest and a white tunic, several buckles around the arm to adjust the length. Her boots, which had even more buckles and pockets attached to it, almost reached her knees, her corduroy pants tucked inside. To top it off, she had a bowler hat on top of her head, her frizzy hair peeking out at the edges.

Kalki made no comment on her clothes choice, only nodding once and saying, "Now let us see if Master Ezreal is up."

Ezreal was not up, and not in any mood to be. He grumbled something incomprehensible before slamming the door shut. Kalki did not seem at all surprised, however, saying, "It is a good thing I have only prepared breakfast for one."

This claimed "breakfast for one", however, proved to be far more than Lydia could handle. There were heaping plates of bacon, sausages, and eggs, as well as waffles and pancakes. A bowl of raspberries, strawberries and blueberries was also put to the side, and Lydia almost felt as if she would burst if she breathed in too deeply. She was grateful that the first stop required a carriage ride.

Kalki certainly made sure to guide her through Piltover. The first place he took her was the center square of Piltover, where in the middle stood Zindelo's Incognium Runeterra, a geometric orb standing in the middle, a rich blue inlaid with gleaming bronze as people walked past. Around this architecture stood commercia halls, where merchants speaking all sorts of languages greeted the passerbys, waving their wares about.

They also made their way through Bluewind Court, which, as Kalki informed her, was where many of the clans came together to discuss political matters. Lydia couldn't help but notice that the buildings around this area consisted more of marble and bricks than the previous building they encountered.

"Indeed. That would be because these buildings predate the hextech era," Kalki explained. "The clans have existed for a considerably long time. If you look closely, you can see the silver and gold adorning the buildings are more recent additions than the marble and brick, in light of the new era standards."

"Oh, interesting," Lydia said, eyeing the buildings. "So does Professor Lymere have to attend these, uh, meetings?"

"No, he is not a high enough rank and has little interest in politics, so he is rarely, if ever, called up," Kalki replied matter-of-factly.

"Oh," Lydia said, letting the matter drop.

They continued on with the tour.

"We are about to enter the Piltover Treasury area," Kalki said. "Where many of our financial institutions lie."

"So kinda like Wall Street?"

"Like what?"

"Never mind," Lydia said hastily.

"Very well. The point is, it would not be an exaggeration to say this is the financial lifeblood of Piltover. It has been a while since I last checked, but at least forty percent of Piltover's financial net worth lies within this avenue."

"Really?"

"Indeed. As such, it is also one of the most heavily guarded areas. For instance, if you look to your left side, you can see the Ecliptic Vaults, Piltover's most secure bank, boasting impenetrable walls and safes… well, almost impenetrable."

As Lydia looked over, she saw the Ecliptic Vault had a huge chunk of the wall blasted open, debris and dust gathered around, with caution tapes around it as several robots picked up the rocks and kept the pedestrians away. There were traces of neon pink paint, though with the robots cleaning it, Lydia could not make out the words or picture.

"What happened here?"

"The Ecliptic Vaults had been victim of a recent heist. It was the talk of the town for quite some time, and a major embarrassment for the Ecliptic Vault."

"Wow," Lydia breathed in amazement. "What did they steal?"

"Nothing, it seems."

"What?"

"Yes. Though it is not as surprising if you knew what kind of person the culprit was. She's does things because she can, not out of need or greed."

"You mean this person is famous?"

"Yes, but I'd rather not discuss too much of her."

So they continued their journey, Kalki pointing out various sites, to the statues listing the great inventors of the past, such as Medarda, the inventor of the Sun Gates, or of the Ferros, who jumpstarted hextech technology. He showed her of the workshops where this famed hextech was built, showing the masters and their apprentices.

"Perhaps you should consider acquiring hextech items for your future endeavors," Kalki suggested. "I hear they can be immensely useful on such expeditions."

After going through so many places Lydia lost count, Kalki had them stop in front of an austere building.

"And our final stop is the Piltover Academy. The largest university hailing some of the greatest professors in all of Valoran… and is also Master Lymere's workplace.

It did feel very much like a normal university. Well, a normal Earth university, with students poring over textbooks as they walked on over to their next class, some lounging on the quad as they muttered to themselves. There were slight differences, however. For one thing, the professors seemed to make a point to wear long flowing robes and caps with the tassels. It reminded Lydia of graduation robes, and she could dimly recall that people in the past did use to wear them as teachers.

"Master Lymere should be finishing with his class soon," Kalki informed her. "In the meantime, feel free to explore the premises. I have a few matters to attend to, but I should be back in about a half hour. The students and professors should be more than willing to help you should you get lost."

Left to herself, Lydia roamed aimlessly around the university grounds. Most of them were classrooms, but on occasion, she found something different. She saw a few workshops, a few students working intently on a project while they had their goggles on, sparks flying. She found a library with bookshelves that reached up to the ceiling. She also found a greenhouse that housed all manners of unusual plants, as she quickly found out when one of the plants smacked at the glass, its teeth glistening as it growled at her.

Lydia felt a pang of homesickness. She had just recently started college herself, and looking at the students poring over their notes and books gave a painful reminder of what she was missing out on. She wondered if they still had to pay tuition if she went missing…

As she mulled over that thought, an odd glow caught her attention. Backtracking, she noticed a strong glow emitting from one of the rooms. As she peered inside, she saw there was an odd contraption atop a workbench, an orb inserted snugly inside, lighting up the whole room. As she stared, she realized the contraption looked oddly familiar…

Lydia's curiosity got the better of her, and she pushed the door. It opened. "Hello?" she called out, but no one answered. She slowly approached the workbench and examined the contraption.

"Hm," she muttered. Sure enough, it looked very much like a one-wheeled electric skateboard. A small tire was wedged in the center of the board, the orb in the center, wires attached to it, leading out to under the board, a mess of boards and wires. It certainly wasn't pretty, but then, initial designs never were.

She picked up the electric (or was it magical?) skateboard, flipping it over. "The orb over there looks like it's basically the battery…" she muttered to herself. "Which means they should be some sort of transistor over… no, that's not right…" she scanned the workbench, found a toolbox, and began rummaging through.

While Lydia was still vague on the intricacies of magic and the concept of hextech, she was familiar with electronics. As long as she substituted the more magical concepts for Earth counterparts, it actually was not as difficult to work with the machinery.

"Still, though, it's no wonder they were having trouble…" The orb powering the board was more powerful than Lydia had expected, and the circuit kept shorting out. She could hardly imagine just how fast this skateboard would go if she allowed it go full power.

"Well, there's no way we'd want it that fast, so let's limit it like this, and…"

Lydia fiddled with the skateboard, and was almost done when a voice shouted, "What are you doing!", causing her jump and nearly drop the skateboard. The voice, however, grabbed her, stopping her, and the one-wheeler, from falling. They both sighed in relief.

"Hey, you could of broke this!" Lydia snapped at the voice. Looking closer, she could see it was a lanky boy with dark hair, his goggles bluish tint hiding his eyes.

"That's my line!" the boy retorted. "Do you realize just how badly this could have been if the orb broke? Oh, Professor Heimerdinger would kill me…"

"Uh, well, sorry for worrying you. I was just trying to fix it. I couldn't help but notice a few problems, so I thought I could fix it up a bit before I went on," Lydia said.

The boy cocked his head. "You noticed a few problems?" he repeated. "But this is…" he peered at the one-wheeler, lifting it out of Lydia's hands. "What?" he said incredulously. He took off his goggles and examined the one-wheeler closer. "But how…". He looked back at Lydia. "Wait, were you the one that made the first spinning wheel board?"

"The first what?" Lydia replied.

"The spinning wheel board!" The boy was visibly excited. "That must be it! That's why you could tell what was wrong with it so fast even though I've been trying to figure out for days!"

Lydia, quite obviously, did not make the first 'spinning wheel board', especially since she had literally arrived here yesterday.

"I think you have me confused with someone else, sorry," Lydia said.

"But then… how were you able to figure it out?" the boy said.

"Well, uh…" Lydia struggled to come up with an appropriate explanation. "It's just that where I came from, we have similar vehicles like this. Not as uh… advanced as this, but the concept is still a little similar."

"Really? Where did you come from?"

"An island…called Earth."

"Earth? I've never heard of it…"

"That's because my place like to keep to themselves," Lydia said. "It's actually why I left. I wanted to get to know more about Runeterra, and well, long story short, I ended up here."

The boy nodded. "Well, we do have a lot of people like that. Maybe the other person might have come from your island then…"

"So, anyways… you're trying to recreate this one-wh… I mean the spinning wheel board?"

"Yeah," the boy replied. "I won't go into the whole details, but there was quite a debacle with this thing, and we eventually got it back looking like this. We changed a few things and ended up making it fly."

"Wait, this was flying before? That would be so much cooler!"

"That's what we said as well, but the Wardens weren't too keen on the air travel. They complained that people flying around in hoverboards would definitely cause accidents with the airships and cause more problems than solutions. So we're dialing it back a bit… Professor Heimerdinger wasn't willing to revert it back, so I'm here trying to figure out how to get it back the way it was before…"

"Oh. Well, I'm sure they'll eventually accept the hoverboard idea."

"Yeah," the boy sighed. "Still, though, this is pretty impressive as well. With this, travel times will definitely reduce!" He set the one-wheeler gently back onto the workbench.

"So, what department are you in?" he asked conversationally. "Who are you apprenticed to?"

"What?"

"Aren't you a student here?"

"Oh, no, not at all."

"But that's ridiculous!" The boy sputtered, looking agitated. "Why not? You clearly have the skills!"

"I mean, I just arrived in Piltover yesterday, for one thing, so…"

"Ah," the boy interrupted, nodding. "So you're trying to transfer in here, right? And you were exploring around before applying to see if you'd like it?"

"Actually, no, I was just roaming around because…"

"Well, in that case, no worries! I bet if I talked to Professor Heimerdinger, he can…"

"Talk to me about what, Xavier?"

Lydia turned around and nearly gasped. A short… man was trotting towards them, with the biggest puff of yellow hair she had ever seen, while his mustache practically covering the lower half of his face. Two bright eyes peeked out from the bush of a face. What drew her attention, was his unusually long, pointed ears, tufts of white hair (or was it fur?) near the edges. His head appeared disproportionately large for his body.

The boy named Xavier did not seem at all surprised however, instead lifting up the one-wheeler and saying "Professor Heimerdinger, look at this! That girl managed to fix the problem I was struggling with the past couple of days just now!"

"Did she?" The man named Heimerdinger examined it. "It appears she did," he muttered. "How curious…"

"Isn't that great! And she said she was thinking of applying here!"

"Wait, like I said, I'm not…"

"Well, that certainly would prove most beneficial for us. We need bright young people like you to move things forward," Heimerdinger said. He turned to Lydia. "What is your name, young one?"

"Uh, it's Lydia."

"Well, Lydia, I'll be sure to put in a good word to the Board about you. I'm afraid I can't take in anymore apprentices at the moment, but I did hear Professor Von Yipp is in need of one. Perhaps you should try him."

"Thanks, but like I said-"

At that moment, a bell tolled.

"Oh, look at the time!" Heimerdinger said. "I must hurry down to the quad to catch Lymere. I need to return that artifact of his, otherwise he'll be gone."

"Oh, crap! I need to get down there as well before he leaves me!"

Heimerdinger stared at her inquisitively. "You know of Professor Lymere?" He asked.

"Uh, yeah, he was kinda of the one that brought me here."

"Ah, I see," Heimerdinger nodded. "He has always been a big proponent of the academics. How nice of him. Very well, follow me, we can both meet him together."

"Bye, Lydia," Xavier waved, giving a toothy grin. "Can't wait to see you here. I bet we can come up with all sorts of cool stuff!"

"Yeah, nice seeing you too, Xavier," Lydia said, not in the mood to correct him.

Heimerdinger led Lydia to the quad, though it almost felt like he might have forgotten about her. He kept muttering to himself, with phrases such as "Did I place the defrobimullator over there?" or the occasional "Aha! I should have done it clockwise!" before pulling out a notebook and scribbling stuff down.

Lymere and Kalki were both waiting in the quad. "You are a little later than expected," Kalki observed.

"Sorry, I got a little caught up in things," Lydia apologized.

"Well, I am certainly glad she held you up," Heimerdinger said. "Otherwise I might not have had the chance to return this to you." He rummaged around his pouch and pulled out a small package, wrapped in brown paper. "Thank you very much for lending it to me."

"Oh, I had almost forgotten about it!" Lymere remarked. "Well, thank you very much Heimerdinger."

"Oh no, thank you. It had helped with me research tremendously. That, and I got to meet a promising young inventor."

"Inventor?" Lymere said, puzzled.

"But of course. This smart young lady you brought here!" Heimerdinger. "Rest assured, I am sure she will do fine at the Academy. She certainly has my approval."

Lymere frowned slighty, but then his expression relaxed. "I see," he said. "That is good to hear."

"Well, I must be off," Heimerdinger said. "Progess waits for no one!" Heimerdinger walked away, but not without another "Aha!", pulling out his notebook and scribbling furiously into it before dashing off, straight through a group of kids and several bushes.

"He's always been like that," Lymere chuckled. "But well, they do say there's a fine line between a genius and a madman. So, did you enjoy your tour of Piltover?"

"Oh, yes, it was great," Lydia said. "It's pretty amazing the kind of stuff you guys have."

"Probably not as impressive as your world, perhaps," Lymere said. "Considering that whatever you did impressed Heimerdinger."

"Sir, we should go. You have dinner with the Clan Ferros in an hour."

"That's right, I nearly forgot about that." Lymere sighed, clearly not looking forward to it. "Well, shall we head off, Lydia?"

The three of them set off towards the carriage, but not without Lydia glancing back once more, looking at the bushes that Heimerdinger had ran through.

"So they have some furry beastman kind of people too, huh," she muttered before continuing on.


End file.
